m\A 


READINGS  IN 

GREEK  HISTORY 


FROM   HOMER 
TO  THE  BATTLE  OF  CHAERONEA 


A  COLLECTION  OF 
EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  SOURCES 


BY 
IDA  CARLETON  THALLON 

ASSISTANT    PROFESSOR    OF    HISTORY    IN    VASSAR    COLLEGE' 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON  •  NEW  YORK-  CHICAGO  •  LONDON 


3l;ij;,* 


COPYRIGHT,  I9I4,  BY 
IDA  CARLETON  THALLON 


ALL    RIGHTS   RESERVED 

514.8 


GINN  AND  COMPANY-  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


TO 

G.  LT.  AND  J.T. 


PREFACE    • 

This  book  was  begun  in  answer  to  a  definite  need  for  a  selec- 
tion from  the  sources  to  be  used  in  ancient-history  classes,  many 
of  whose  members  had  already  been  accustomed  to  using  source 
books  in  medieval  and  modern  history.  For  such  students  there 
was  only  one  source  book  of  ancient  history  and  it  was  designed 
especially  for  secondary  schools.  The  present  book  was  practically 
completed  before  the  appearance  of  one  or  two  other  source  books, 
which  cover  a  considerably  longer  period  than  that  included  here. 
It  is  hoped  that  the  present  work  will  furnish  the  student  with 
fuller  material  in  a  more  restricted  field  —  from  Homer  to  the 
battle  of  Chaeronea.  The  aim  has  been  to  make  these  selections 
comprehensive  enough  to  be  of  use  in  secondary  schools  as  well 
as  for  undergraduate  work  in  college.  The  attempt  to  make  the 
book  of  service  to  many  will  doubtless  result  in  the  failure  to 
satisfy  the  specialist,  —  the  Greek  scholar  on  the  one  hand,  the 
historian  on  the  other,  —  but  these  selections  may  help  to  bridge 
over  the  wide  gulf  between  the  pleasing  narrative  for  children  and 
the  exhaustive  work  for  the  advanced  student. 

Almost  any  book  dealing  with  Greek  history  needs  a  few  words 
of  explanation  about  the  spelling  of  proper  names.  Consistency  is 
of  course  impossible  in  a  book  made  up  of  selected  passages,  the 
translators  of  which  have  their  own  preferences ;  and  I  have  been 
perhaps  unduly  conscientious  about  tampering  with  the  spelling  of 
others,  even  to  the  extent  of  leaving  some  personal  idiosyncrasies 
of  hybrid  Graeco-Latin  forms.  In  my  own  translations  or  com- 
mentary, names  have  generally  been  Latinized  despite  the  fact 
that  some  unusual  names,  especially  in  inscriptions,  have  perhaps 
never  before  been  transliterated,  and  therefore  present  a  strange 
appearance. 


vi  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

The  circumstances  under  which  this  book  has  been  written  have 
undoubtedly  permitted  errors  to  occur.  It  has  been  done  in  what- 
ever time  could  be  spared  from  my  academic  work,  and  for  all 
mistakes  I  alone  am  responsible. 

A  list  of  translations  is  given  at  the  end  of  the  volume.  Where 
no  translator's  name  follows  that  of  the  author,  the  version  has 
been  made  by  myself.  Publishers  and  translators  have  been  most 
generous  in  allowing  me  to  make  use  of  these  translations ;  and  it 
is  my  pleasant  duty  to  thank  Mr.  George  Allen,  Messrs.  George 
Bell  and  Sons,  The  Cambridge  University  Press,  Mr.  J.  S.  Easby- 
Smith,  the  editors  of  Everyman's  Library,  Messrs.  Longmans, 
Green  &  Co.,  The  Macmillan  Company,  The  Oxford  University 
Press,  Messrs.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  Messrs.  Seeley  and  Com- 
pany, and  Professor  Paul  Shorey  for  their  kind  permission  to  quote 
from  works  published  or  translated  by  them. 

To  Messrs.  Ginn  and  Company  I  wish  to  express  my  heartiest 
thanks  for  having  reduced  the  author's  difificulties  to  a  minimum 
through  the  accuracy  and  judgment  of  their  readers  and  for  their 
constant  courtesy  and  consideration. 

My  personal  debt  to  those  friends  who  have  given  me  assist- 
ance is  very  great.  Professor  Perry  of  Columbia  was  good  enough 
to  read  the  translations  of  the  inscriptions,  and  Professor  Macurdy 
of  Vassar  those  of  some  of  the  poets  and  orators.  Both  have  given 
generously  of  their  time,  and  have  made  many  improvements  in  the 
versions.  Professor  Salmon  of  Vassar  has  found  time  to  read  the 
whole  manuscript,  to  talk  over  many  passages,  to  make  many  val- 
uable suggestions,  and  to  act  as  a  constant  inspiration.  It  is  fitting 
that  my  last  word  should  be  an  expression  of  deepest  gratitude  for 
her  sympathetic  encouragement. 

I.  C.  T. 

Vassar  College 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I  — THE  HEROIC  AGE 

PAGE 

I.  The  Assemblies  of  the  Achaeans 

Iliad,  II,  155-210;  360-483 3 

Odyssey,  II,  1-14;   224-241 8 

II.  Homeric  Hospitality 

1.  The  House  of  Odysseus 

C^jj^^,  I,  96-1 54  ;  213-364 9 

2.  The  Palace  of  Menelaus 

Odyssey,  IV,  19-182      .      .     - 1 5 

3.  The  Palace  of  Alcinous 

Ci/j/jj^y,  VI,  247-315;  VII,  78-181 19 

III.  The  Shield  of  Achilles 

///W,  XVIII,  468-617 24 

CHAPTER  H  — THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE 

I.  The  Colonies  in  the  East 

1.  Miletus  and  her  Colonies 

Strabp,  XIV,  i,  6 29 

Anacreon,  Frag.  85 30 

A-ra/^c,  XIV,  i,  6;  XII,  iii,  II  ;  XII,  viii,  II 30 

2.  Byzantium 

Strabo,^\\,v\,z 31 

3.  Euboean  Colonies 

Straho,y.,\,^;  Frag.  1 1 3^ 

II,  The  Colonies  in  the  West 

I.  Cumas 

Strabo,  V,  iv,  4 3' 

vii 


VIU 


READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 


2.  Naples 

Strabo,  V,  iv,  7 32 

3.  Sybaris  and  Croton 

Strabo,  VI,  i,  12-13 32 

4.  Marseilles 

Strabo,  IV,  i,  4-5 33 

5.  Colonies  in  Sicily 

Thucydides,  VI,  3-5 34 


III.  The  Importance  of  Corinth 

Strabo,  VIII,  vi,  20   .      . 


36 


IV.  The  Colonies  in  North  Africa 

1.  Naucratis 

Herodotus,  II,  178-179 37 

Hicks  and  Hill,  3  (Inscription  from  Abusimbel)   ....     3^ 

2.  Libyan  Colonies 

Herodotus,  IV,  1 56-1 59        .      .      . 39 

VmnhK,  Pyth.,  IV,  1-12;  59-67 40 

V.  Founding  a  Colony,  and  its  Relation  to  the  Mother  City 

Thucydides,  I,  24-25,  34 4^ 


VI.  Gyges  and  Colophon  ;  Asia  Minor 

Herodotus,  I,  14    • 
Strabo,  XIV,  i,  4  . 
Callinus,  Frag,  i 
Herodotus,  I,  15   . 
Callinus,  Frag.  3 
Archiloc/tus,  Frag,  i 


43 
43 
44 
44 
44 
45 


VII.  Trade  and  Travel ;  Naval  Power 

Thucydides,  I,  13 4^ 

Hicks  and  Hill,  2  (Arniadas  Inscription) 47 

VIII.  The  Farmer's  Life 

Hesiod,    Works   and  Days,    298-316;    383-395;    448-463; 

493-503;  641-653  47 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  III  — RELIGIOUS  LEAGUES  AND  FESTIVALS 

PAGE 

L  Asia  Minor 

1.  Panionium 

Herodotus,  I,  142-143;  148-149 51 

2.  Branchidae 

Hicks  and  Hill,  6,  •]  (Inscriptions) 53 

Herodotus,  I,  157;  V,  36 53 

II.  Delos 

Thucydides,  II,  104        .      .      .      .      t 53 

III.  Dodona 

Strabo,  VII,  vii,  10 55 

IV.  Delphi 

.SVraiJtf,  IX,  iii,  4-5 ;  IX,  iii,  6 ;  XVI,  ii,  38-39 55 

Euripides, /<?«,  91-1 1 1 57 

Pausanias,  X,  v,  5 SI 

Herodotics,  I,  50-52  ;  92 58 

/I'/Vr/^j  (?«(//////,  5  (Inscription  of  Croesus) 60 

Herodotus,  II,  180 60 

V.  Olympia 

Pausanias,  V,  vii,  4 ;  V,  ix,  3  ;  V,  xxi,  2 60 

Herodotus,  II,  160 62 

CHAPTER  IV  — EARLY  TYRANNY 
L  General  Discussion 

Aristotle,  Politics,  VI,  10;  VIII,  12 65 

II,  In  Asia  Minor  and  the  Islands 

1.  Polycrates  of  Samos 

Herodotus,  III,  39;   54-56;  60,  122,  125 67 

Thucydides,  I,  13 6g 

Strabo,  XIV,  i,  16 69 

2.  Teos 

Strabo,  XIV,  {,30 7° 

Anacreon,  Frag.  28 7° 


X  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

PAGE 

3.  Mitylene 

Stmho,  XIII,  ii,  2 70 

Diogenes  'La^ktws,,  Life  of  Pittaciis,\-l\;  X 7" 

Carmina  popularia,  43 72 

AlccEUs,  XX;  XXII;  XIX;  XXVI;  XXV;  XXIV;  XVIII  72 

4.  Sigeum 

Strabo,  XIII,  i,  38 74 

^/<r«?/j,  XXIII 75 

Hicks  and  Hill,  Z  (Inscription) 75 

Herodotus,  V,  95  ;  V,  94 75 

III.  On  the  Greek  Mainland 

1.  Corinth 

HerodotusyV,  C)2;  111,49 7^ 

Hicks  and  Hill,  i  (Megarian  Inscription) 80 

2.  Sicyon,  Cleisthenes 

Herodotus,  \ I,  \26,  \2%-i2,i;  Y,6-]-6'S, 80 

Pausanias,  X,  xxxvii,  4 80 

3.  Megara,  Political  Revolution 

Aristotle,  Politics,  VIII,  5 83 

Maxims    of  Theogiiis,   39-68;    283-292;    337-350;    367-370; 

667-680;  8S5-894       83 

CHAPTER  V  — EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS 

I.  Argos 

1.  Early  Power  under  Pheidon 

Strabo,  VIII,  iii,  33 87 

Herodotus,  VI,  127         88 

2.  Troubles  with  Sparta 

Pausanias,  II,  xx,  i 88 

Strabo,  VIII,  vi,  18 88 

II.  Olympia 

Struggle  between  Elis  and  Pisa        . 89 

Pausanias,  VI,  xxii,  2-4 89 

Hicks  and  I/ill,  9  (Treaty  of  Eleans  and  Heraeans)        ...     89 


CONTExNTS  xi 

PAGE 

III.  Sparta 

1 .  Messenian  Wars 

Faitsanias,  IV,  iv,  4 ;   IV,  vi,  5  ;   IV,  xiii,  4 ;   IV,  xiv,  4 ;   IV, 

XV,  I  ;   IV,  xvi,  3  ;   IV,  xxiii,  2  ;   IV,  xxiv,  2  ;   IV,  v,  2     •        90 

Strabo,  VIII,  iv,  10 93 

Tyrtaus,  Frag.  15 93 

2.  Wars  against  Argos  and  Tegea 

Herodotus,  I,  82  ;  I,  66-68 94 


IV.  The  Spartan  Constitution 

1.  Population 

7X«m//<fe,  I,  loi  ;  IV,  80;  I,  18 9^ 

2.  Lycurgus  and  his  Work 

Xenophon,  The  Polity  of  the  Lacedirtnonians,!,  1-2  ...        98 
Plato,  Laws,  III,  691-692 9^ 

3.  The  Senate 

Plutarch,  Lycurgiis,  6-7  ;  26 99 

4.  The  Ephors 

Plutarch,  Lycurgiis,  7 ^°° 

X-Te-no-enon,  Polity  0/ the  Laceda-mo7iians,Vlll       ....      lOI 

5.  The  Kings 

LLerodotns,  VI,  56-59 '°^ 

X.^iiovnoti,  Polity  0/ the  Lacedccmo7iiaiis,Xlll;  XV        .      •      103 

Aristotle,  Politics,  III,  14 ^°4 

6.  The  People,  Property,  and  Discipline 

Plutarch,  Lycurgus,  8 '°5 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Lacedcetnonians,  VI  ;  IX  ;  X     •      •      105 
Plutarch,  Lycu7-gus,  24 '° 

7.  Education 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Laccdamonia7is,  II,  2-7  ;   III,  iv      .      lOO 

Plutarch,  Lycurgus,  21 '°9 

X.-E.^o-enot^,  Polity  of  the  LacedcEmoniajiSyl no 

8.  Common  Mess 

X.^aovno^,  Polity  of  the  Lacedir77i07iia7is,Y HO 

Plutarch,  Lycurgus,  12 


xii  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

CHAPTER  VI— ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY 

PAGE 

I.  Early  Attica  and  Union  under  Theseus 

Thncydides,  I,  2 1 13 

Herodotus,  I,  56 II4 

Thncydides,  U,  \j,-\z, 1 14 

Plutarch,  Theseus,  25 115 

II.  The  Early  Constitution 

Aristotle,  Cotistitution  of  Athens,  \\\;  VIII        .      .      .     •      116 

Draco's  Legislation 1 1 8 

Ak\?,t:ot'L^,  Constitution  of  Athens,  I'V I18 

III.  Solon 

1.  His  Character  and  Political  Poems 

Plutarch,  6(V()«,  2;  t, 119 

Solon,  Frag.  4 1 20 

2.  Conditions  in  Athens 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  V 121 

3.  Solon's  Economic  Reforms  as  Archon 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  VI 121 

Plutarch,  5<?/^«,  I5;i6;i7 121 

4.  Solon's  Constitutional  Reforms 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  \ll;  VIII;  X     .      .      .      1 23 

5.  Summary  of  his  Work 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  X^ll 1 25 

6.  Strife  after  his  Magistracy  ended 

Aristotle,  Constitutioji  of  Athens,  XIII 126 

IV.  Conquest  of  Eleusis  and  Salamis 

Pausanias,  I,  xxxviii,  3  ;  xl,  4 1 20 

So/on,  Frags.  1-2 1 27 

V.  Pisistratus  and  his  Family 

1.  Pisistratus 

ARlsTOThE,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XIV-XYl        ....      I  27 
Herodotus,  I,  59  ;  64 13° 

2.  Miltiades  in  the  North 

Herodotus,  VI,  34-39 -132 


CONTENTS  xm 

PAGE 

3.  The  Pisistratidae 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XVIII 1 34 

Thucydides,^\,^\ 1 34 

Hicks  and  Hill,  lo  (Inscription  by  Grandson  of  Pisistratus)  135 

TAucydides,  VI,  59 135 

Herodotus,  V,  55 136 

Siinonides,  Frag.  131 1 36 

?>Y.O'L\0\i,  Harmodiiis  and  AristOi^iton 137 

Thncydides,  VI,  59 1 37 

Herodotus,  VI,  107 1 37 

VI,  The  Alcmaeonidce,  "  The  Accursed  " 

Herodotus,  V,  62-63 1 37 

The  Conspiracy  of  Cylon 138 

Thncydides,  I,  126 1 38 

Herodotus,  V,  71 1 39 

VII.  Cleisthenes  and  his  Reforms 

Herodotus,  V,  66-67,  69 1 40 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXII 141 

VIII.  Further  Athenian  Conquests 

1.  Chalcis  and  Boeotia 

Herodotus,  V,  77 1 42 

SiMONlDES,  Epigrams,  89,  132 143 

2.  JE.gin3i 

Herodotus,  V,  81,  89-90 1 43 

Thncydides,  I,  41 1 44 

Herodotus,  VI,  87-89  ;  93-94 I44 

Thncydides,  I,  14 1 45 

CHAPTER  VII  — THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA 
TO  THE  ^GEAN 

I.  The  Rise  of  Persia 

1.  Conquest  of  Asia  by  Cyrus 

Herodottis,  I,  130,  141,  169;   I,  6-7,  26-28 I47 

2.  Croesus 

Herodotus,  I,  46-47,  71  ;  86,  90-91 1 50 


xiv  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

PAGE 

3.  Cambyses 

Herodotus,  II,  I 153 

II,  Darius 

1.  Rule  in  the  East 

Herodotus,  \\\,%2>-%() 153 

Hicks  and  Hill,  20  {\^&\X^Y  oi  \yzx\\x%) 154 

2.  The  Ionian  Revolt 

Herodotus,  IV,   137;  V,  38,  49;   50,  55,  96-97,  99-105;  VI, 

18-22,  31,  33 155 

3.  Expedition  against  Greece 

Herodotus,  VI,  43-44,  48-49 1 63 

Plutarch,  Themistocles,  6 164 

Heivdotus,  VI,  94-101 1 65 

4.  Marathon 

Herodotus,  Yl,  102,  104-106;   108-117 168 

Plutarch,  Aristides,  5 173 

^SCHYLUS,  /lv-j/V7« J',  231-245  ;   472-476 174 

Mscn\l.\SS,  Epigram  ^ 175 

Pausanias,  III,  xii,  7;  I,  xxxii,  3 175 

CHAPTER  VIII— WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE 

I.  Xerxes 

1.  Preparations  of  the  Persians 

Herodotus,  VII,  i,  4-5;  8,  20,  33-35;  55-56,  60;  83,  89,  96, 

99-100 177 

^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  1-27  ;  59-71 ;  87-91  ;  126-131  ;  176-199      182 

2.  Preparations  of  the  Greeks 

Herodotus,  \U,  iT,i-ij,^ 185 

Plutarch,  Themistocles,  3-4 188 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXII 189 

Thticydides,  I,  18 189 

3.  Thermopylae  and  Artemisium 

Herodotus,  W\,  175-178;   201-207;   219-228 19° 

Plutarch,  Themistocles,  7 197 

Herodotus,  Ylll,  16-19;  22,40-41 198 

Plutarch,  Themistocles,  8-9 200 


CONTENTS      •  XV 

PAGE 

4.  Capture  of  the  Acropolis 

Herodotus,  VIII,  50-53 202 

5.  Salamis;   Preparations 

/i^^;Wt)/«j^,  VIII,  63-64,  66;  75-76 204 

Plutarch,  Tkemistocles,  11 206 

6.  The  Battle  of  Salamis 

Herodotus,  VIII,  84-85 206 

Plutarch,  Themistocles,  15 207 

Herodotus,  N\l\,%6-'i();  91,93,95;  97,99 207 

^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  249-259;  290-301  ;  334-371  ;  386-471  ; 

477-512;  787-828 211 

Pindar, /f///w.,  IV,  48 218 

Hicks  and  Hill,  17  (Inscription) 218 

Simonides,  107 2l8 

7.  Plataea 

//^;W^^«5,  IX,  61-65 -^9 

Pindar, /^I'M.,  I,  75 221 

Thucydides,  I,  132 221 

Pausanias,  V,  xxiii,  1-2;  IX,  ii,  4 222 

Plutarch,  Aristides,  19 223 

8.  Mycale 

Herodotus,  IX,  96-97,  loo-ioi,  106 223 

9.  Importance  of  the  War  for  Athens 

Thucydides,  I,  73-74 226 

ID.  Themistocles 

Plutarch,  Themistocles,  20-21  ;  22;  17 228 

Pausanias,  VIII,  I,  3 230 

Thucydides,  I,  138 230 

II.  The  Western  Greeks 

1.  Rise  of  Gelon 

Herodotus,  Yll,  I  i^'^-i ^6 231 

2.  Victories  over  Carthage  and  the  Etruscans 

Herodotus,  VII,  165-166 232 

Diodorus,  XI,  51 233 

Pindar,  iPj'//^.,  I,  71 .  233 

Pindar,  OL,  VI,  92 233 


xvi  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

PAG 

Pindar,  Pyth.,  Ill,  68 23 

Hicks  and  Hill,  16  (Inscription,  Delphi  Dedications)       .      .  23 

SiMONiDES,  Epigram,  141 23 

Hicks  and  Hill,  22  (Inscription  on  a  Bronze  Helmet)       .      .  23 

SiMONlDES,  Epigram  109 23 

Fausanias,  VIII,  xlii,  9 23 

III.  Various  Battles  of  the  Persian  War 

SlMONiDES,  Selected  Epigrams 23 


CHAPTER  IX  — FROM  THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE 
PELOPONNESIAN  WAR 

I.  The  Confederacy  and  the  Empire 

1 .  The  Growth  of  Athens 

Thiicydides,  I,  18-19;  89-93 24 

Plutarch,  Thetnistodes,  19 241 

2.  The  Leadership  of  Athens  ;  Assessment 

Thiicydides,  I,  96-99 24( 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXIII-XXIV      .      .      .  24J 

Plutarch,  Aristides,  24  ;  25 24( 

Thiicydides,  II,  9,  13 25( 

Plutarch,  Cimon,  11 25: 

Thiicydides,  VI,  82-83,  85 25: 

Hicks  and  Hill,  32  (Inscription,  Erythraean  Decree)  .      .      .  25^ 

3.  Cimon,  Admiral  and  Statesman 

Thiicydides,  I,  98 251 

Plutarch,  Cimon, -j  ;  8 251 

Thiicydides,  I,  100 25; 

Plutarch,  Cimon,  12;  12-13;  10;  5;  17-19 25; 

Thiicydides,  I,  112 26; 

II.  Wars  with  other  Cities 
I.  Sparta 

Fausanias,  I,  xxix,  8  .      .      • 26^ 

Thiicydides,  I,  101-103 26^ 

Fausanias,  V,  xxiv,  3 263 


CONTENTS  xvii 

PAGE 

ThucyJiJes,  I,  107-108 266 

Pausanias,  V,  x,  2  ;  V,  x,  4 266 

2.   Conquest  of  ^gina 

ThucydiJes,  I,  105,  108 267 

III.  Pericles 

1.  Early  Career 

Plutarch, /Vr/V/^j-,  3,  7  ;  11 268 

2.  Reduction  of  Eubcea 

ThHcydides,\,\\\ 270 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  23 270 

Aristophanes,  Clouds,  211  ff 270 

Hicks  and  Hill,  40  (Inscription,  Chalcis  Decree)    ....  270 

3.  Colonizing  Policy 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  11,  19-20 273 

Hicks  and  Hill,  41  (Inscription,  Brea  Decree)        ....  274 

4.  Public  Works 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  12-13 275 

Hicks  and  Hill,  37  (Inscription  about  Temple  of  Athena  Nike)  279 

iY/r/i'J^ ««(//////,  47  (Inscription  about  Parthenon)         .      .      .  279 

5.  The  Athenian  Navy 

Thiicydides,  II,  13-14;   I,  143    •      • 280 

Thucydides,\l\,\-];  II,  16 281 

Thucydides,  I,  121,  143 282 

6.  Foreign  Policy 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  20 283 

Thucydides,  II,  65 284 

7.  Personal  Rule  and  Statesmanship 

Plutarch, /(?r/(-/^j^,  15-16;  9 286 

TEschylus,  ^^/w^w/V/^j,  470-489 ;  675-710 289 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXV;  XXVI-XXVII  .  291 

Thucydides,  I,  139 293 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  8 293 

Eupolis,  The  Denies  (Frag.) 294 

8.  The  Ideal  of  Pericles  for  Athens 

Thucydides,  II,  34-46 .  294 


xviii  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

CHAPTER  X  — THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR 


PAGE 


I.  Preliminary 

1.  The  Corinthian-Corcyraean  Incident 

r/^z/rj/i/Z./^j-,  I,  31,  36;  44-45,  55 304 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  29 307 

Thucydides,  I,  51 307 

Hicks  and  Hill,  53  (Inscription  about  Athenian  Expenses)  .  3°^ 

2.  Potidaea 

Thucydides,  I,  56-58  ;  63 308 

Hicks  and  Hill,  '~,^  {Y.^\X.^.^^\\) 310 

Plutarch,  ^/«i^/W^^,  8 310 

Thucydides,  \,(i(i 311 

3.  Sides  Taken 

Thucydides,  I,  70;  S4-85  ;  87-88,  125;   140-142;   143,  145    .      311 

4.  The  Athenian  Population  ;  Conditions  in  Attica 

Thucydides,  II,  14,  16-17 318 

^^^ovnoti,  Polity  of  the  Athenians,  I,  '2",   12;  II,  11   .      .      .      320 

II.  The  Ten  Years'  War,  431-421 

1.  Spartan  Invasion  of  Attica  and  its  Results 

Thucydides,  II,  19,  21 321 

Aristophanes,    Achamians,    32-39;    300-330;     509-522; 

530-554      •■ 323 

Aristophanes,  Peace,  603-614 326 

2.  The  Death  and  Successors  of  Pericles 

Aristotle,  Constitution  0/ Athens,  XXVIII 327 

EupOLis,  The  Denies  (Frag.) 328 

3.  Cleon 

Aristophanes,    Knights,    125-149;    191-193;    1110-1119; 

713-715;  733-743;  1355-1363;  1388-1396;  973-996     •     328 

4.  Nicias 

Plutarch,  A7«aj,  6 ;  3;4;8 332 

5.  The  Revolt  of  Mitylene 

Thucydides,  III,  36;  40;  47-50 337 

Hicks  and  Hill,  61  (Decree  about  Colony) 339 

6.  Pylos 

Thucydides,  IV,  2-3;  8-9;   21;  26-28;  36,41 340 


CONTENTS  xix 

PAGE 

Aristophanes,  Aw/^/z/j,  40-60;  842-S66;  1166-1172     .     .  348 

Patisatiias,  V,  xxvi,  i 349 

Hicks  and  Hill,  63 350 

7.  Amphipolis 

Thucydides,  IV,  102,  104;   106-108;  V,  10-16  .      .      .      .      .  350 

8.  The  Peace  of  Nicias 

Thucydides,\,  17-18;  23-24 357 

Plutarch,  Nicias,  9 359 

Aristophanes, /if^c^,  632-647  ;  260-300 361 

III.  Period  of  so-called  Truce 

1.  Alliance  with  Argos 

Thucydides,  V,  43,  47,  78 363 

Euripides,  6'«////V?«/'j,  1 191-1209 366 

Euripides,  .4«^/;w«(7c/^^,  445-453 ;  724-726 366 

2.  The  Melian  Affair 

Thucydides,V,Z\,%()-\\\\   116 367 

Euripides,  Trojan  IFomcn,  1081-1106;  1190-1191     .      .     .  374 


CHAPTER  XI  — THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  (Continued) 

I.  The  Sicilian  Expedition 

1.  Preliminary  Negotiations 

T/incydides,  VI,  i,  6 376 

2.  Debate  on  the  Undertaking 

TAncydides,  YI,  8-10,  12-1;^;   15-18;   19-21,  23-24     .      .      .      377 

Plutarch,  Nicias,  12 384 

Plutarch,  Alcibiades,  17 385 

3.  Preparations 

Thucydides,  VI,  25-26 386 

4.  Mutilation  of  the  Hermae  and  Burlesque  of  the  Mysteries 

Thucydides,  VI,  27-29 388 

Andocides,  Z>^  il/i/j-^m/j,  11-18  ;  34-45 389 

Plutarch,  Alcibiades,  22 394 

5.  The  Departure  of  the  Expedition 

Thttcydides,  VI,  30-32 395 


XX  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

PAGE 

6.  Command  and  Policy 

7;^?^rj/</A/^j,  VI,  46-49;  63;  VII,  7-8,  i6;  36-41    ....  397 

Plutarch,  Nicias,  17 404 

Thucydides^NW,  <^()-(iO;  70-72;   74-75;  80-S2  ;  84-S7     .      .  405 

Plutarch,  Alcias,  26,  28 41 5 

CHAPTER  XII— ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER 
I.  The  Effect  on  Athens 

Thiicydides.WW^i-z      . 416 

II.  The  Decelean  War  y 

1.  Spartan  Activity  > 

77///fj'(//^/«,  VI,  91  ;  VII,  19;  27-28;  VIII,  69-70      .     .     .     418 

2.  The  Samian  Democracy 

Thitcydides,  VIII,  21         421 

III.  Alcibiades 

1.  His  Recall  from  Sicily 

Thiicydides,  VI,  53 422 

2.  Negotiations  with  Tissapherncs 

Thiicydides,  VIII,  45-47 423 

3.  His  Recall  to  Athens 

T/iinydides,  VIII,  53 424 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  I,  iv,  1 1-23 425 

4.  Personal  Characteristics 

Plutarch,  ^Ar/^/Wt?^,  11-12,  16 428 

IV.  Tendency  toward  Ohgarchy 

T/nicydides,\lll,  ^\ 430 

1.  Removal  of  Opponents 

Thiicydides,  VIII,  66 430 

2.  Peisander  and  Antiphon 

Tkucydides,  VIII,  68 431 

Plutarch  (pseudo),  Vitae  Decern  Oratonim,  I,  27-29       .      .      432 

V.  The  Four  Hundred 

Thiicydides,  VIII,  89-90,  97 432 


CONTENTS  XXI 

PAGE 

Aristotle,     Constitution     of    Athens,     XXIX;     XXXI; 

XXXII-XXXIII 434 

Phrynichus 

Thucydides,  VIII,  48,  51  ;  90,  92 437 

Hicks  and  Hill,  74  (Inscription) 439 

\:^?,lK%,yA\\  {Against  Agoratiis),~jO--]\         440 

VI.  The  Fall  of  Athens 

1.  Arginusae  and  the  Condemnation  of  the  Generals 

Xenophon,   Hellcnica,  I,  vi,   26-3S ;    I,  vii,    i-io;    I,  vii, 

34-35 441 

2.  y^Lgospotami  and  its  Results 

XENOPHOiN,  Helloiica,  II,  i,  16-21  ;   II,  ii,  3-4     ....      446 

3.  Terms  of  the  Treaty 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  II,  ii,  19-23 449 

VII.  The  Thirty 

Aristotle,  a'«j//i';///c7«  ^//^///f«j,  XXXIV-XXXVIII   .     451 

1.  Theramenes  and  Critias 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  II,  iii,  15-16;  II,  iii,  46-56  .      .      .      453 

2.  Fall  and  Amnesty 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXXVIII ;  XXXIX        456 

VIII.  Conditions  under  the  Four  Hundred  and  the  Thirty 

1.  Unconstitutional  Measures 

Lysias,  III  (.'i^'v^/V/j-/ A7(('///(7(////j),  2-5  ;    10-14;  27-30       .      458 
Lysias,  XIII  (/i^j,'-(7///j-/ .•:/^'-(';v7/'//j),  36-3S ;  46-4S       .     .     .     461 

2.  Treatment  of  the  Metics 

Lysias,  XII  (Against  Eratosthenes),  4-23 462 

3.  Destruction  of  Property 

Lysias,  VII  (c:>;/ ///.■  CW7't' ^'///w/),  6-7 465 

CHAPTER  XIII  — SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES 

I.  Sparta 

I.  Lysander  and  his  Policy 

Vh\n\Rcn,  Lysander,  5,  13  ;   17  ;   19,  23 468 


xxii  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

PAGE 

Xenophon, //■.?//d'«/<r(:?,  Ill,  iv,  2  ;  III,  v,  17-25       ....     471 
IsoCRATES,  IV  {Panegyricus),  111-116;   122-128    ....     473 

2.  Agesilaus 

VlMlK^CYi.,  Agesilaus,  15 476 

Xenophon,  Hellenica^  IV,  i,  41-ii,  4        477 

Xenophon,  Agesilaus,  I,  35-38 478 

3.  War  with  Thebes  and  Athens 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  III,  v,  9-16 479 

Hicks  and  Hill,  ^^  (Treaty) 481 

Xenophon,  Z(^^//^«/(ra,  IV,  ii,  15-22 482 

Lysias,  XVI  [For  Mantitheus),  15 484 

Hicks  and  Hill,  %■]  \  88  (Memorial  Inscriptions)     ....  488 

4.  Selfish  Policy  of  Sparta ;  her  Climax 

■    Xenophon,  Helhnica,  V,  ii,  1-8;  V,  ii,  28-37  ;  V,  i,  28-36; 

V,  iii,  26 485 

II.  The  Rise  of  Thebes 

1.  Peace  of  b.c.  371 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  VI,  iii,  17-20 492 

2.  Leuctra  and  its  Consequences 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  VI,  iv,  8-16 493 

3.  Founding  of  Megalopolis  and  Messene 

Pausa7iias,  VIII,  xxvii,   1-3;    VIII,  xxvii,  6-10;   IV,  xxvi, 

5-8;   IV,  xxvii,  5-9;   IV,  xxvii,  11  ;   IV,  xxviii,  1-3    .      .      495 

4.  The  Batde  of  Mandnea 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  VII,  v,  17-27        500 

Hicks  and  Hill,  1 19  (Alliance  Inscription) 503 

III.  Epaminondas 

1.  His  Career 

Pausanias,  IX,  xiii,  1-2;   IX,  xiii,  11-12 504 

2.  Death  and  Statues 

Pausanias,  IX,  xv,  5-6 505 

3.  Estimates  of  his  Ability 

Polybius,  VI,  43 505 


CONTENTS  xxiii 

CHAPTER  XIV  — THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS 

PAGE 

I.  Conditions  during  the  Early  Fourth  Century 

1.  Relations  with  the  Samians 

Hicks  and  Hill,  Zx  (Inscription) 507 

2.  Activity  of  Conon 

Xenophon,  Helleiiica,  IV,  iii,  11-12;   IV,  viii,  1-3;   IV,  viii, 

7-1 1 510 

Hicks  and  Hill,  8g  (Inscription  in  his  Honor) 513 

3.  Contrast  of  Patriotic  and  Dishonest  Officials 

l.\S\\5,  'Kl^  [071  the  P?vpeiiy  0/ Aristophanes),  i()-2T,      ■      .      513 
'Lysias,  XXYIll  {Againsl  £r£'oclc's) 514 

4.  The  Peace  of  B.C.  391-390 

Andocides,  Z>^ /'<7f^,  13-16;  35-41 517 

5.  Advocates  of  Pan-Hellenic  Unity 

IsoCRATES,  IV  (Panegyricus),  75-85 520 

II.  The  Second  Athenian  Confederacy 

1 .  Formation  and  List  of  Allies 

Hicks  and  Hill,  loi  (Inscription,  The  New  Confederacy)     .  522 

Hicks  and  Hill,  102  (Inscription,  Alliance  with  Chalcis)        .  5^4 
Hicks    and   Hill,    96    (Inscription,    Earlier    Alliance    with 

Clazomenae) 5^5 

///r/'j  (?;/(//////,  98  (Inscription,  Treaty  with  Chios)     .      .      •  5^5 

2.  Alliance  with  Corcyra 

Hicks  and  Hill,  105;   106  (Inscriptions)         5^6 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  V,  iv,  64-66 528 

3.  Foreign  Relations 

Hicks  and  Hill,  1 17  (Inscription  about  Menelaus)        .      .      .  529 
Hicks  and  Hill,  108;   112  (Inscriptions  about   Dionysius  of 

Syracuse)        529 

Hicks  and  Hill,  113  (Inscription  about  Sparta)        .      .      .      .  53 1 

III.  The  Athenian  Constitution 

I.  Contrast  with  the  "  good  old  days  " 

IsoCRATES,  VII  {Areopagiiicus),  20-27 532 


xxiv  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

PAGE 

2.  The  Constitution  in  the  Fourth  Century 

Aristotle,   Constitution  of  Athens,  XLII  ;  XLIII-XLVI ; 

XLIX;    L;   LI;   LII  ;    LIII ;   LIV  ;   LV ;   LVI ;   LIX; 

LX;  LXI;  LXII ;  LXIII 533 

Aristophanes,   The  Women  in  Parliament,  1-50;  82-101; 

106-245;  285-310;  383-397;   427-476;    555-570;   58S- 

618;  652-693 542 


CHAPTER  XV  — THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON 
I.  Early  Conditions  in  Macedon 

Thucydides,  II,  99-100 559 

Hicks  and  Hill,  95  (Alliance  of  Amyntas  and  the  Chalcidians)      5^^ 

II.  Philip 

1.  Summary  of  his  Deeds 

Diodorus,  XVI,  i,  3-6 562 

2.  Success  in  the  North 

Diodorus,  XVI,  viii,  1-7  ;   XVI,  liii,  2-liv,  4 562 

3.  Activity  against  Athens 

Diodorus,  XVI,  Ixxxiv,  i-lxxxvii,  3 5^5 

4.  Plans  for  the  Invasion  of  Asia 

Diodorus,  XVI,  Ixxxix,  1-3 568 

ISOCRATES,   PhilippUs,    14-16;    30-31;    6S-71  ;   83-S6 ;    127- 

131;   154-155 570 

III.  Demosthenes 

1.  His  Policy  of  Resistance 

YxM'YKY^cn,  Demosthenes,  12-13;   17-18 574 

2.  Aggressive  Action  urged 

Demosthenes,  First  Philippic,  2-7;   8-12;    16-27;  31-33; 

41-46 578 

Demosthenes, /»j/  C/r«/'/;/V3'<r,  8-16;  17-20 584 

Hicks  and  Hill,  125  (Inscription  about  Amphipolis)    .      .      .  586 

Demosthenes,  On  ike  Chersonese,  44-51  ;  61-67    ....  587 

Demosthenes,  Third  Philippic,  6-14;   19-28;  32-35;  36-44  589 

Demosthenes,  Third  Olynthiac,  19-32 594 


CONTENTS  XXV 

PAGE 

3.  Failure  of  the  Embassy 

Uemosthe^es,  On  iAe  £mdassj/,  ^-i6;   142-146;  298-310    .  597 

4.  Alliance  with  Thebes 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Croion,  168-187;  66-72      ....  602 

5.  Chaeronea  and  its  Results 

Plutarch,  Alexafider,  9 608 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Croivn,  285-290 6og 

Palatine  Anthology,  VII,  245 610 

'LxcxiV.GM'i,  Against  Leochares,  y)-df2. 61 1 

6.  The  Attack  of  ^schines  on  Demosthenes 

'^'LVT^ViQW,  Demosthenes,  z\-22 612 

^SCHINES,  Against  Ctesiphon,   148-151;   178-18S;   237-241  613 

7.  Demosthenes  defends  his  own  Policy 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Crown,  297-305;  314-324       .     .     .  618 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 623 

INDEX 629 

INDEX  OF  AUTHORS 637 


INTRODUCTION 

Happily  the  time  has  gone  by  when  it  is  necessary  to  make  an 
apology  for  introducing  source  books  in  history.  The  use  of  such 
material  in  the  secondary  schools  is  more  or  less  generally  accepted 
and  tends  to  become  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception. 

The  material  in  this  book  which  has  hitherto  been  unavailable  to 
the  English  reader  consists  chiefly  of  selections  from  the  orators, 
especially  Lysias  and  Andocides,  and  inscriptions.  No  effort  has 
been  made  to  present  a  continuous  narrative. 

The  dramatists  have  been  used  when  the  direct  bearing  on  his- 
tory is  evident ;  the  same  is  true  of  the  lyric  and  elegiac  poets. 
It  is  tempting  to  include  more  excerpts  of  a  purely  literary  or 
philosophical  character,  for  they  reflect  the  thought  of  the  time  as 
truly  as  the  historians  ;  but  it  is  no  easy  task  to  draw  the  line,  and 
the  suggestion  now  and  then  of  how  the  Greek  spirit  expressed  it- 
self in  forms  other  than  prose  narrative  is  all  that  has  been  possi- 
ble. Pausanias  has  been  frequently  used.  His  description  of  Greece 
brings  many  scenes  vividly  before  us,  and  his  interest  in  myths  and 
old  legends  has  preserved  many  traditions  of  remote  antiquity. 

It  seemed  very  desirable  to  include  a  fairly  large  number  of  in- 
scriptions. The  average  student  knows  vaguely  in  a  general  way 
that  these  form  one  of  the  most  important  classes  of  sources,  but 
he  seldom  or  never  sees  either  an  inscription  or  any  book  about 
inscriptions  which  will  be  of  use  without  a  reading  knowledge  of 
Greek.  Those  included  have  been  chosen  from  Hicks  and  Hill's 
"Greek  Historical  Inscriptions"  in  the  hope  that  the  student  might 
become  acquainted  with  the  phraseology  and  subject  matter  of  cer- 
tain kinds  of  historical  records.  The  use  of  inscriptions  by  those 
unfamiliar  with  Greek  will  always  be  limited  and  to  a  certain  extent 


xxviii  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

unsatisfactory  because  of  the  fragmentary  condition  of  many  in- 
scriptions, yet  a  far  wider  use  of  them  could  be  made  if  some  of 
the  most  valuable  and  complete  examples  were  translated  and  edited 
with  adequate  notes.  They  afford  insight  into  conditions  social, 
political,  religious,  and  economic  which  would  otherwise  be  unex- 
plored ground.  The  student  who  sees  to  what  an  extent  modern 
works  are  based  on  inscriptional  evidence  cannot  afford  to  remain 
totally  ignorant  of  this  field. 

It  may  seem  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  selections  in  this 
book  is  devoted  to  political,  constitutional,  and  military  affairs  rather 
than  to  the  economic  matters  which  so  greatly  occupy  the  interests 
of  the  modern  historian.  The  tendency  of  the  present  time  is  to 
view  history  from  the  economic  point  of  view,  to  find  therein  the 
explanation  of  many  inconsistencies  in  foreign  policy  or  in  treat- 
ment of  neighbors,  of  domestic  legislation,  and  of  granting  political 
rights.  Two  of  the  most  striking  and  valuable  books  on  Greek 
history  which  have  recently  appeared,  those  by  Grundy  and  Zim- 
mern,  bring  these  points  out  with  great  emphasis,  and  they  are  not 
alone  in  noting  the  importance  of  this  angle  of  vision.  The  data 
on  which  such  books  are  based  and  from  which  general  conclusions 
are  drawn  have  been  collected  from  innumerable  scattered  sources, 
incidental  references,  or  chance  hints  let  slip.  There  is  little  con- 
secutive material  from  which  to  make  suitable  selections  for  a  source 
book.  The  scientific  study  of  economics,  particularly  from  the  prac- 
tical point  of  view,  is  of  recent  growth.  The  Greeks  were  not  in 
the  habit  of  recording  the  everyday  trivial  things  with  which  their 
whole  world  was  familiar.  The  modern  scholar  must  look  below 
the  surface,  must  delve  into  countless  inscriptions,  must  with  in- 
finite pains  piece  together  into  a  coherent  whole  the  scattered  bits 
from  here  and  there.  Finance  and  scientific  housekeeping  are 
dealt  with  by  Xenophon,  but  there  is  little  else  available.  Some 
of  the  passages  selected  from  Homer,  Hesiod,  Lysias,  and  Aris- 
tophanes will  possibly  offer  suggestions.  Many  private  orations  of 
Demosthenes  which  are  full  of  valuable  information  on  trade  and 
banking  are  rather  too  technical  to  interest  the  general  reader.   The 


INTRODUCTION  xxix 

infinite  labor  and  research  which  the  courageous  author  of  an  eco- 
nomic history  of  Greece  is  bound  to  put  into  its  composition  should 
be  amply  repaid  by  the  warm  welcome  such  a  book  is  sure  to  receive. 

Any  book  on  Greek  history  is  but  half  complete  without  the 
so-called  "prehistoric"  period,  but  it  is  obviously  impossible  to 
include  it  in  readings  until  the  scripta  Minoa  shall  have  been 
deciphered  and  become  available  as  written  records.  One  chapter 
on  the  Homeric  period  has  been  included,  and  a  few  works  on  the 
Minoan  age  have  been  suggested  in  the  bibliography.  The  diffi- 
culties in  making  a  suitable  selection  from  the  Homeric  poems  need 
no  explanation.  Few  things  are  more  discouraging  than  the  attempt 
to  turn  poetry  into  statistics,  and  a  great  defect  in  many  books  on 
Homer  is  that  the  spirit  of  the  poems  has  been  lost  in  the  attempt 
to  classify  the  incidental  information.  Invaluable  as  these  works  are 
for  reference,  they  give  the  non-Homeric  student  merely  a  one- 
sided view.  It  has  therefore  seemed  wiser  to  make  a  few  longer 
quotations  which  reveal  the  spirit  of  the  times. 

The  period  covered  extends  from  Homer  to  the  battle  of  Chaero- 
nea.  As  the  material  accumulated  it  was  found  impossible  to 
include  more  within  the  compass  of  a  single  volume.  The  Hel- 
lenistic and  Graeco- Roman  periods,  rich  in  papyri  and  inscriptions, 
have  therefore  been  omitted. 

It  is  hoped,  however,  that  these  selections,  inadequate  though 
they  are,  may  serve  to  bring  the  life  of  the  Greeks  more  vividly 
before  the  student,  to  stimulate  him  to  read  more  widely  in  the 
fields  of  literature  and  history  to  which  they  serve  as  an  introduc- 
tion, to  realize  how  closely  akin  the  Greeks  were  to  modern  times, 
and  to  show  the  unity  of  history. 


READINGS   IN   GREEK   HISTORY 


CHAPTER   I 

THE  HEROIC  AGE 

The  assemblies  of  the  Achseans  —  Homeric  hospitality  —  The  house  of  Odysseus 

—  The  palace  of  Menelaus  —  The  palace  of  Alcinous — ^  Art  and  its  reflection 

of  daily  life  —  The  shield  of  Achilles 

I.    The  Assemblies  of  the  Acilt:ans 

The  scene  is  laid  in  the  Greek  camp  before  Troy  during  the 
long-continued  siege. 

The  quarrel  between  Agamemnon  and  Achilles  had  brought 
action  to  a  standstill,  and  most  were  in  favor  of  returning  home 
when  Hera  sent  Athene  to  dissuade  them, 

Iliad,  II,  155-210 

Then  would  the  Argives  have  accomplished  their  return  against 
the  will  of  fate,  but  that  Hera  spake  a  word  to  Athene  :  '"  Out  on 
it,  daughter  of  segis-bearing  Zeus,  unwearied  maiden  !  Shall  the 
Argives  thus  indeed  flee  homeward  to  their  dear  native  land  over 
the  sea's  broad  back  ?  But  they  would  leave  to  Priam  and  the 
Trojans  their  boast,  even  Helen  of  Argos,  for  whose  sake  many 
an  Achaian  hath  perished  in  Troy,  far  away  from  his  dear  native 
land.  But  go  thou  now  amid  the  host  of  the  mail-clad  Achaians ; 
with  thy  gentle  words  refrain  thou  every  man,  neither  suffer  them 
to  draw  their  curved  ships  down  to  the  salt  sea." 

So  spake  she,  and  the  bright-eyed  goddess  Athene  disregarded 
not ;  but  went  darting  down  from  the  peaks  of  Olympus,  and  came 
with  speed  to  the  fleet  ships  of  the  Achaians.  There  found  she 
Odysseus  standing,  peer  of  Zeus  in  counsel,  neither  laid  he  any 
hand  upon  his  decked  black  ship,  because  grief  had  entered  into 
his  heart  and  soul.    And  bright-eyed  Athene  stood  by  him  and 

3 


4  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

said  :  "  Heaven-sprung  son  of  Laertes,  Odysseus  of  many  devices, 
will  ye  indeed  fling  yourselves  upon  your  benched  ships  to  flee 
homeward  to  your  dear  native  land  ?  But  ye  would  leave  to  Priam 
and  the  Trojans  their  boast,  even  Helen  of  Argos,  for  whose  sake 
many  an  Achaian  hath  perished  in  Troy,  far  from  his  dear  native 
land.  But  go  thou  now  amid  the  host  of  the  Achaians,  and  tarry 
not ;  and  with  thy  gentle  words  refrain  every  man,  neither  suffer 
them  to  draw  their  curved  ships  down  to  the  salt  sea." 

So  said  she,  and  he  knew  the  voice  of  the  goddess  speaking  to 
him,  and  set  him  to  run,  and  cast  away  his  mantle,  the  which  his 
herald  gathered  up,  even  Eury bates  of  Ithaca,  that  waited  on  him. 
And  himself  he  went  to  meet  Agamemnon  son  of  Atreus,  and  at 
his  hand  received  the  sceptre  of  his  sires,  imperishable  for  ever, 
wherewith  he  took  his  way  amid  the  ships  of  the  mail-clad  Achaians. 

Whenever  he  found  one  that  was  a  captain  and  a  man  of  mark, 
he  stood  by  his  side,  and  refrained  him  with  gentle  words  :  '"  Good 
sir,  it  is  not  seemly  to  affright  thee  like  a  coward,  but  do  thou  sit 
thyself  and  make  all  thy  folk  sit  down.  For  thou  knowest  not  yet 
clearly  what  is  the  purpose  of  Atreus'  son  ;  now  is  he  but  making 
trial,  and  soon  he  will  afflict  the  sons  of  the  Achaians.  And  heard 
we  not  all  of  us  what  he  spake  in  the  council  .'*  Beware  lest  in  his 
anger  he  evilly  entreat  the  sons  of  the  Achaians.  For  proud  is  the 
soul  of  heaven-fostered  kings  ;  because  their  honour  is  of  Zeus, 
and  the  god  of  counsel  loveth  them." 

But  whatever  man  of  the  people  he  saw  and  found  him  shout- 
ing, him  he  drave  with  his  sceptre  and  chode  him  with  loud  words  : 
"  Good  sir,  sit  still  and  hearken  to  the  words  of  others  that  are 
thy  betters  ;  but  thou  art  no  warrior,  and  a  weakling,  never  reck- 
oned whether  in  battle  or  in  council.  In  no  wise  can  we  Achaians 
all  be  kings  here.  A  multitude  of  masters  is  no  good  thing ;  let 
there  be  one  master,  one  king,  to  whom  the  son  of  crooked- 
counselling  Kronos  hath  granted  it,  [even  the  sceptre  and  judg- 
ments, that  he  may  rule  among  you]." 

So  masterfully  ranged  he  the  host ;  and  they  hasted  back  to 
the  assembly  from  ships  and  huts,  with  noise  as  when  a  wave  of 
the  loud-sounding  sea  roareth  on  the  long  beach  and  the  main 
resoundeth. 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  5 

Thersites  and  others  of  the  baser  sort  aimed  to  cast  discredit 
on  the  leaders  and  to  persuade  the  Greeks  to  stay  no  longer,  but 
the  aged  Nestor  bade  them  not  act  like  silly  boys,  and  addressed 
Agamemnon  thus : 

Iliad,  II,  360-368 

"  But  do  thou,  my  king,  take  good  counsel  thyself,  and  hearken 
lo  another  that  shall  give  it ;  the  word  that  I  speak,  whate'er  it 
be,  shall  not  be  cast  away.  Separate  thy  warriors  by  tribes  and  by 
clans,  Agamemnon,  that  clan  may  give  aid  to  clan  and  tribe  to 
tribe.  If  thou  do  thus  and  the  Achaians  hearken  to  thee,  then  wilt 
thou  know  who  among  thy  captains  and  who  of  the  common  sort 
is  a  coward,  and  who  too  is  brave  ;  for  they  will  fight  each  after 
their  sort.  So  wilt  thou  know  whether  it  is  by  divine  command 
that  thou  shalt  not  take  the  city,  or  by  the  baseness  of  thy  warriors 
and  their  ill  skill  in  battle." 

Iliad,  II,  369-483 

And  lord  Agamemnon  answered  and  said  to  him  :  "Verily  hast 
thou  again  outdone  the  sons  of  the  Achaians  in  speech,  old  man. 
Ah,  father  Zeus  and  Athene  and  Apollo,  would  that  among  the 
Achaians  I  had  ten  such  councillors  ;  then  would  the  city  of  king 
Priam  soon  bow  beneath  our  hands,  captive  and  wasted.  But  aegis- 
bearing  Zeus,  the  son  of  Kronos,  hath  brought  sorrows  upon  me, 
in  that  he  casteth  my  lot  amid  fruitless  wranglings  and  strifes.  For 
in  truth  I  and  Achilles  fought  about  a  damsel  with  violent  words, 
and  I  was  first  to  be  angry  ;  but  if  we  can  only  be  at  one  in  council, 
then  will  there  no  more  be  any  putting  off  the  day  of  evil  for  the 
Trojans,  no  not  for  an  instant.  But  now  go  ye  to  your  meal  that  we 
may  join  battle.  Let  each  man  sharpen  well  his  spear  and  bestow 
well  his  shield,  and  let  him  well  give  his  fleet-footed  steeds  their 
meal,  and  look  well  to  his  chariot  on  every  side  and  take  thought 
for  battle,  that  all  day  long  we  may  contend  in  hateful  war.  For  of 
respite  there  shall  intervene  no,  not  a  whit,  only  that  the  coming 
of  night  shall  part  the  fury  of  warriors.  On  each  man's  breast  shall 
the  baldrick  of  his  covering  shield  be  wet  with  sweat,  and  his  hand 
shall  grow  faint  about  the  spear,  and  each  man's  horse  shall  sweat 


6  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

as  he  dravveth  the  poHshed  chariot.  And  whomsoever  I  perceive 
minded  to  tarry  far  from  the  fight  beside  the  beaked  ships,  for 
him  shall  there  be  no  hope  hereafter  to  escape  the  dogs  and 
birds  of  prey." 

So  spake  he,  and  the  Argives  shouted  aloud,  like  to  a  wave  on 
a  steep  shore,  when  the  south  wind  cometh  and  stirreth  it ;  even 
on  a  jutting  rock,  that  is  never  left  at  peace  by  the  waves  of  all 
winds  that  rise  from  this  side  and  from  that.  And  they  stood  up 
and  scattered  in  haste  throughout  the  ships,  and  made  fires  in  the 
huts  and  took  their  meal.  And  they  did  sacrifice  each  man  to  one 
of  the  everlasting  gods,  praying  for  escape  from  death  and  the 
tumult  of  battle.  But  Agamemnon  king  of  men  slew  a  fat  bull  of 
five  years  to  most  mighty  Kronion,  and  called  the  elders,  the  princes 
of  the  Achaian  host,  Nestor  first  and  king  Idomeneus,  and  then  the 
two  Aiantes  and  Tydeus'  son,  and  sixthly  Odysseus  peer  of  Zeus 
in  counsel.  And  Menelaus  of  the  loud  war-cry  came  to  him  unbid- 
den, for  he  knew  in  his  heart  how  his  brother  toiled.  Then  stood 
they  around  the  bull  and  took  the  barley-meal.  And  Agamemnon 
made  his  prayer  in  their  midst  and  said  :  "  Zeus,  most  glorious, 
most  great,  god  of  the  storm-cloud,  that  dwellest  in  the  heaven, 
vouchsafe  that  the  sun  set  not  upon  us  nor  the  darkness  come  near, 
till  I  have  laid  low  upon  the  earth  Priam's  palace  smirched  with 
smoke,  and  burnt  the  doorways  thereof  with  consuming  fire,  and 
rent  on  Hector's  breast  his  doublet  cleft  with  the  blade  ;  and  about 
him  may  full  many  of  his  comrades  prone  in  the  dust  bite  the  earth." 

So  spake  he,  but  not  as  yet  would  Kronion  grant  him  fulfilment ; 
he  accepted  the  sacrifice,  but  made  toil  to  wax  unceasingly. 

Now  when  they  had  prayed  and  sprinkled  the  barley-meal  they 
first  drew  back  the  bull's  head  and  cut  his  throat  and  flayed  him, 
and  cut  slices  from  the  thighs  and  wrapped  them  in  fat,  mak- 
ing a  double  fold,  and  laid  raw  collops  thereon.  And  these  they 
burnt  on  cleft  wood  stript  of  leaves,  and  spitted  the  vitals  and  held 
them  over  Hephaistos'  flame.  Now  when  the  thighs  were  burnt 
and  they  had  tasted  the  vitals,  then  sliced  they  all  the  rest  and 
pierced  it  through  with  spits,  and  roasted  it  carefully  and  drew  all 
off  again.  So  when  they  had  rest  from  the  task  and  had  made 
ready  the  banquet,  they  feasted,  nor  was  their  heart  aught  stinted 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  7 

of  the  fair  banquet.  Rut  when  they  had  put  away  from  them  the 
desire  of  meat  and  drink,  then  did  knightly  Nestor  of  Gerenia  open 
his  saying  to  them  :  "  Most  noble  son  of  Atreus,  Agamemnon 
king  of  men,  let  us  not  any  more  hold  long  converse  here,  nor  for 
long  delay  the  work  that  god  putteth  in  our  hands  ;  but  come,  let 
the  heralds  of  the  mail-clad  Achaians  make  proclamation  to  the 
folk  and  gather  them  throughout  the  ships ;  and  let  us  go  thus  in 
concert  through  the  wide  host  of  the  Achaians,  that  the  speedier 
we  may  arouse  keen  war." 

So  spake  he  and  Agamemnon  king  of  men  disregarded  not. 
Straightway  he  bade  the  clear-voiced  heralds  summon  to  battle  the 
flowing-haired  Achaians,  So  those  summoned  and  these  gathered 
with  all  speed.  And  the  kings,  the  fosterlings  of  Zeus  that  were 
about  Atreus'  son,  eagerly  marshalled  them,  and  bright-eyed  Athene 
in  the  midst,  bearing  the  holy  aegis  that  knoweth  neither  age  nor 
death,  whereon  wave  an  hundred  tassels  of  pure  gold,  all  deftly 
woven  and  each  one,  an  hundred  oxen  worth.  Therewith  she  passed 
dazzling  through  the  Achaian  folk,  urging  them  forth  ;  and  in 
every  man's  heart  she  roused  strength  to  battle  without  ceasing  and 
to  figlit.  So  was  war  made  sweeter  to  them  than  to  depart  in  their 
hollow  ships  to  their  dear  native  land.  Even  as  ravaging  fire  kin- 
dleth  a  boundless  forest  on  a  mountain's  peaks,  and  the  blaze  is 
seen  from  afar,  even  so  as  they  marched  went  the  dazzling  gleam 
from  the  innumerable  bronze  through  the  sky  even  unto  the 
heavens. 

And  as  the  many  tribes  of  feathered  birds,  wild  geese  or  cranes 
or  long-necked  swans,  on  the  Asian  mead  by  Kaystrios'  stream,  fly 
hither  and  thither,  joying  in  their  plumage,  and  wdth  loud  cries 
settle  ever  onwards,  and  the  mead  resounds  ;  even  so  poured  forth 
the  many  tribes  of  warriors  from  ships  and  huts  into  the  Skaman- 
drian  plain.  And  the  earth  echoed  terribly  beneath  the  tread  of 
men  and  horses.  So  stood  they  in  the  flowery  Skamandrian  plain, 
unnumbered  as  are  leaves  and  flowers  in  their  season.  Even  as  the 
many  tribes  of  thick  flies  that  hover  about  a  herdsman's  steading  in 
the  spring  season,  when  milk  drencheth  the  pails,  even  in  like 
number  stood  the  flowing-haired  Achaians  upon  the  plain  in  face 
of  the  Trojans,  eager  to  rend  them  asunder.    And  even  as  the 


8  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

goatherds  easily  divide  the  ranging  flocks  of  goats  when  they  mingle 
in  the  pasture,  so  did  their  captains  marshal  them  on  this  side  and 
on  that,  to  enter  into  the  fray,  and  in  their  midst  lord  Agamemnon, 
his  head  and  eyes  like  unto  Zeus  whose  joy  is  in  the  thunder,  and 
his  waist  like  unto  Ares  and  his  breast  unto  Poseidon.  Even  as  a 
bull  standeth  out  far  foremost  amid  the  herd,  for  he  is  pre-eminent 
amid  the  pasturing  kine,  even  such  did  Zeus  make  Atreides  on  that 
day,  pre-eminent  among  many  and  chief  amid  heroes. 

Odyssey,  II,  1-14 

Now  so  soon  as  early  Dawn  shone  forth,  the  rosy-fingered,  the 
dear  son  of  Odysseus  gat  him  up  from  his  bed,  and  put  on  his 
raiment  and  cast  his  sharp  sword  about  his  shoulder,  and  beneath 
his  smooth  feet  he  bound  his  goodly  sandals,'  and  stept  forth  from 
his  chamber  in  presence  like  a  god.  And  straightway  he  bade  the 
clear-voiced  heralds  to  call  the  long-haired  Achaeans  to  the  assem- 
bly. And  the  heralds  called  the  gathering,  and  the  Achaeans  were 
assembled  quickly.  Now  when  they  were  gathered  and  come  to- 
gether, he  went  on  his  way  to  the  assembly  holding  in  his  hand 
a  spear  of  bronze,  —  not  alone  he  went,  for  two  swift  hounds  bare 
him  company.  Then  Athene  shed  on  him  a  wondrous  grace,  and 
all  the  people  marvelled  at  him  as  he  came.  And  he  sat  him  in 
his  father's  seat  and  the  elders  gave  place  to  him. 

Odyssey,  II,  224-241 

Then  in  the  midst  uprose  Mentor,  the  companion  of  noble  Odys- 
seus. He  it  was  to  whom  Odysseus,  as  he  departed  in  the  fleet, 
had  given  the  charge  over  all  his  house,  that  it  should  obey  the  old 
man,  and  that  he  should  keep  all  things  safe.  With  good  will  he 
now  made  harangue  and  spake  among  them  : 

"  Hearken  to  me  now,  ye  men  of  Ithaca,  to  the  word  that  I  shall 
say.  Henceforth  let  not  any  sceptred  king  be  kind  and  gentle  with 
all  his  heart,  nor  minded  to  do  righteously,  but  let  him  alway  "be 
a  hard  man  and  work  unrighteousness  :  for  behold,  there  is  none 
that  remembereth  divine  Odysseus  of  the  people  whose  lord  he 
was,  and  was  gentle  as  a  father.  Howsoever,  it  is  not  that  I  grudge 
the  lordly  wooers  their  deeds  of  violence  in  the  evil  devices  of  their 
heart.    For  at  the  hazard  of  their  own  heads  they  violently  devour 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  9 

the  household  of  Odysseus,  and  say  of  him  that  he  will  come  no 
more  again.  But  I  am  indeed  wroth  with  the  rest  of  the  people,  to 
see  how  ye  all  sit  thus  speechless,  and  do  not  cry  shame  upon  the 
wooers,  and  put  them  down,  ye  that  are  so  many  and  they  so  few." 

II.   Homeric  Hospitality 

"  The  ordained  time  has  now  arrived,  when  by  the  counsels  of 
the  Gods,  Odysseus  is  to  be  brought  home  to  free  his  house,  to 
avenge  himself  on  the  wooers,  and  to  recover  his  kingdom.  The 
chief  agent  in  his  restoration  is  Pallas  Athene ;  the  first  book  opens 
with  her  prayer  to  Zeus  that  Odysseus  may  be  delivered.  For  this 
purpose  Hermes  is  to  be  sent  to  Calypso  to  bid  her  release  Odys- 
seus, while  Pallas  Athene  in  the  shape  of  Mentor,  a  friend  of 
Odysseus,  visits  Telemachus  in  Ithaca."  (Butcher  and  Lang, 
Odyssey,  pp.  xvii-xviii) 

1.  THE  HOUSE  OF  ODYSSEUS 

Odyssey,  I,  96-154 

She  spake  and  bound  beneath  her  feet  her  lovely  golden  sandals, 
that  wax  not  old,  and  bare  her  alike  over  the  wet  sea  and  over  the 
limitless  land,  swift  as  the  breath  of  the  wind.  And  she  seized  her 
doughty  spear,  shod  with  sharp  bronze,  weighty  and  huge  and 
strong,  wherewith  she  quells  the  ranks  of  heroes  with  whomsoever 
she  is  wroth,  the  daughter  of  the  mighty  sire.  Then  from  the 
heights  of  Olympus  she  came  glancing  down,  and  she  stood  in 
the  land  of  Ithaca,  at  the  entn,^  of  the  gate  of  Odysseus,  on  the 
threshold  of  the  courtyard,  holding  in  her  hand  the  spear  of  bronze, 
in  the  semblance  of  a  stranger,  Mentes  the  captain  of  the  Taphians. 
And  there  she  found  the  lordly  wooers  :  now  they  were  taking 
their  pleasure  at  draughts  in  front  of  the  doors,  sitting  on  hides 
of  oxen,  which  themselves  had  slain.  And  of  the  henchmen  and 
the  ready  squires,  some  were  mixing  for  them  wine  and  water 
in  bowls,  and  some  again  were  washing  the  tables  with  porous 
sponges  and  were  setting  them  forth,  and  others  were  carving 
flesh  in  plenty. 


lO  READINGS   IN   GREEK   HISTORY 

And  godlike  Telemachus  was  far  the  first  to  descry  her,  for  he 
was  sitting  with  a  heavy  heart  among  the  wooers  dreaming  on  his 
good  father,  if  haply  he  might  come  some-whence,  and  make  a 
scattering  of  the  wooers  there  throughout  the  palace,  and  himself 
get  honour  and  bear  rule  among  his  own  possessions.  Thinking 
thereupon,  as  he  sat  among  wooers,  he  saw  Athene  —  and  he 
went  straight  to  the  outer  porch,  for  he  thought  it  blame  in 
his  heart  that  a  stranger  should  stand  long  at  the  gates  :  and 
halting  nigh  her  he  clasped  her  right  hand  and  took  from  her 
the  spear  of  bronze,  and  uttered  his  voice,  and  spake  unto  her 
winged  words  : 

"  Hail,  stranger,  with  us  thou  shalt  be  kindly  entreated,  and 
thereafter,  when  thou  hast  tasted  meat,  thou  shalt  tell  us  that 
whereof  thou  hast  need." 

Therewith  he  led  the  way,  and  I'allas  Athene  followed.  And 
when  they  were  now  within  the  lofty  house,  he  set  her  spear  that 
he  bore  against  a  tall  pillar,  within  the  polished  spear-stand,  where 
stood  many  spears  besides,  even  those  of  Odysseus  of  the  hardy 
heart ;  and  he  led  the  goddess  and  seated  her  on  a  goodly  carven 
chair,  and  spread  a  linen  cloth  thereunder,  and  beneath  was  a  foot- 
stool for  the  feet.  For  himself  he  placed  an  inlaid  seat  hard  by, 
apart  from  the  company  of  the  wooers,  lest  the  stranger  should  be 
disquieted  by  the  noise  and  should  have  a  loathing  for  the  meal, 
being  come  among  overweening  men,  and  also  that  he  might  ask 
him  about  his  father  that  was  gone  from  his  home. 

Then  a  handmaid  bare  water  for  the  washing  of  hands  in  a 
goodly  golden  ewer,  and  poured  it  forth  over  a  silver  basin  to  wash 
withal,  and  drew  to  their  side  a  polished  table.  And  a  grave  dame 
bare  wheaten  bread  and  set  it  by  them,  and  laid  on  the  board  many 
dainties,  giving  freely  of  such  things  as  she  had  by  her.  And  a 
carver  lifted  and  placed  by  them  platters  of  divers  kinds  of  flesh, 
and  nigh  them  he  set  golden  bowls,  and  a  henchman  walked  to 
and  fro  pouring  out  to  them  the  wine. 

Then  in  came  the  lordly  wooers  ;  and  they  sat  them  down  in 
rows  on  chairs  and  on  high  seats,  and  henchmen  poured  water 
on  their  hands,  and  maidservants  piled  wheaten  bread  by  them  in 
baskets,  and  pages  crowned  the  bowls  with  drink ;  and  they  stretched 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  II 

forth  their  hands  upon  the  good  cheer  spread  before  them.  Now 
when  the  wooers  had  put  from  them  the  desire  of  meat  and  drink, 
they  minded  them  of  other  things,  even  of  the  song  and  dance  : 
for  these  are  the  crown  of  the  feast.  And  a  henchman  placed  a 
beauteous  lyre  in  the  hands  of  Phemius,  who  was  minstrel  to  the 
wooers  despite  his  will.  Yea  and  as  he  touched  the  lyre  he  lifted 
up  his  voice  in  sweet  song. 

Telemachus  then  asks  the  stranger  why  he  has  come  to  Ithaca, 
and  he  laments  the  death  of  his  father.  Athene  answers  that  Odys- 
seus is  not  dead  but  is  kept  against  his  will  from  his  return,  but 
that  he  will  come  back.  She  then  asks  him  if  he  is  the  son  of 
Odysseus,  as  the  resemblance  is  so  strong. 

Odyssey,  I,  213-364 

Then  wise  Telemachus  answered  her,  and  said  :  "'  Yea,  sir,  now 
will  I  plainly  tell  thee  all.  My  mother  verily  saith  that  I  am  his  ; 
for  myself  I  know  not,  for  never  man  yet  knew  of  himself  his  own 
descent.  O  that  I  had  been  the  son  of  some  blessed  man,  whom 
old  age  overtook  among  his  own  possessions  !  But  now  of  him  that 
is  the  most  hapless  of  mortal  men,  his  son  they  say  that  I  am,  since 
thou  dost  question  me  hereof." 

Then  the  goddess,  grey-eyed  Athene,  spake  unto  him,  and  said : 
"  Surely  no  nameless  lineage  have  the  gods  ordained  for  thee  in 
days  to  come,  since  Penelope  bore  thee  so  goodly  a  man.  But  come, 
declare  me  this,  and  tell  it  all  plainly.  What  feast,  nay,  what  rout 
is  this .?  What  hast  thou  to  do  therewith  }  Is  it  a  clan  drinking, 
or  a  wedding  feast,  for  here  we  have  no  banquet  where  each  man 
brings  his  share .?  In  such  wise,  flown  with  insolence,  do  they 
seem  to  me  to  revel  wantonly  through  the  house  :  and  well  might 
any  man  be  wroth  to  see  so  many  deeds  of  shame,  whatso  wise  man 
came  among  them." 

Then  wise  Telemachus  answered  her,  and  said  :  "  Sir,  forasmuch 
as  thou  questionest  me  of  these  things  and  inquirest  thereof,  our 
house  was  once  like  to  have  been  rich  and  honourable,  while  yet 
that  man  was  among  his  people.  But  now  the  gods  willed  it  other- 
wise, in  evil  purpose,  who  have  made  him  pass  utterly  out  of  sight 


12  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

as  no  man  ever  before.  Truly  I  would  not  even  for  his  death  make 
so  great  sorrow,  had  he  fallen  among  his  fellows  in  the  land  of  the 
Trojans,  or  in  the  arms  of  his  friends  when  he  had  wound  up  the 
clew  of  war.  Then  would  the  whole  Achaean  host  have  builded 
him  a  barrow,  and  even  for  his  son  would  he  have  won  great  glory 
in  the  after  days.  But  now  the  spirits  of  the  storm  have  swept  him 
away  inglorious.  He  is  gone,  lost  to  sight  and  hearsay,  but  for  me 
hath  he  left  anguish  and  lamentation  ;  nor  henceforth  is  it  for 
him  alone  that  I  mourn  and  weep,  since  the  gods  have  wrought 
for  me  other  sore  distress.  For  all  the  noblest  that  are  princes  in 
the  isles,  in  Dulichium  and  Same  and  wooded  Zacynthus,  and  as 
many  as  lord  it  in  rocky  Ithaca,  all  these  woo  my  mother  and  waste 
my  house.  But  as  for  her  she  neither  refuseth  the  hated  bridal, 
nor  hath  the  heart  to  make  an  end  :  so  they  devour  and  minish  my 
house,  and  ere  long  they  make  havoc  likewise  of  myself." 

Then  in  heavy  displeasure  spake  unto  him  Pallas  Athene :  "God 
help  thee !  thou  art  surely  sore  in  need  of  Odysseus  that  is  afar, 
to  stretch  forth  his  hands  upon  the  shameless  wooers.  If  he  could 
but  come  now  and  stand  at  the  entering  in  of  the  gate,  with  helmet 
and  shield  and  lances  twain,  as  mighty  a  man  as  when  first  I 
marked  him  in  our  house  drinking  and  making  merry  what  time 
he  came  up  out  of  Ephyra  from  Ilus  son  of  Mermerus  !  For  even 
thither  had  Odysseus  gone  on  his  swift  ship  to  seek  a  deadly  drug, 
that  he  might  have  wherewithal  to  smear  his  bronze-shod  arrows  : 
but  Ilus  would  in  nowise  give  it  him,  for  he  had  in  awe  the  ever- 
living  gods.  But  my  father  gave  it  him,  for  he  bare  him  wondrous 
love.  O  that  Odysseus  might  in  such  strength  consort  with  the 
wooers  :  so  should  they  all  have  swift  fate  and  bitter  wedlock ! 
Howbeit  these  things  surely  lie  on  the  knees  of  the  gods,  whether 
he  shall  return  or  not,  and  take  vengeance  in  his  halls.  But  I 
charge  thee  to  take  counsel  how  thou  mayest  thrust  forth  the  woo- 
ers from  the  hall.  Come  now,  mark  and  take  heed  unto  my  words. 
On  the  morrow  call  the  Achaean  lords  to  the  assembly,  and  declare 
thy  saying  to  all,  and  take  the  gods  to  witness.  As  for  the  wooers 
bid  them  scatter  them  each  one  to  his  own,  and  for  thy  mother, 
if  her  heart  is  moved  to  marriage,  let  her  go  back  to  the  hall  of 
that  mighty  man  her  father,  and  her  kinsfolk  will  furnish  a  wedding 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  13 

feast,  and  array  the  gifts  of  wooing  exceeding  many,  all  that  should 
go  back  with  a  daughter  dearly  beloved.  And  to  thyself  I  will  give 
a  word  of  wise  counsel,  if  perchance  thou  wilt  hearken.  Fit  out 
a  ship,  the  best  thou  hast,  with  twenty  oarsmen,  and  go  to  inquire 
concerning  thy  father  that  is  long  afar,  if  perchance  any  man  shall 
tell  thee  aught,  or  if  thou  mayest  hear  the  voice  from  Zeus,  which 
chiefly  brings  tidings  to  men.  Get  thee  first  to  Pylos  and  inquire 
of  goodly  Nestor,  and  from  thence  to  Sparta  to  Menelaus  of  the 
fair  hair,  for  he  came  home  the  last  of  the  mail-coated  Achaeans. 
If  thou  shalt  hear  news  of  the  life  and  the  returning  of  thy  father, 
then  verily  thou  mayest  endure  the  wasting  for  yet  a  year.  But  if 
thou  shalt  hear  that  he  is  dead  and  gone,  return  then  to  thine  own 
dear  country  and  pile  his  mound,  and  over  it  pay  burial  rites, 
full  many  as  is  due,  and  give  thy  mother  to  a  husband.  But  when 
thou  hast  done  this  and  made  an  end,  thereafter  take  counsel  in 
thy  mind  and  heart,  how  thou  mayest  slay  the  wooers  in  thy  halls, 
whether  by  guile  or  openly  ;  for  thou  shouldest  not  carry  childish 
thoughts,  being  no  longer  of  years  thereto.  Or  hast  thou  not  heard 
what  renown  the  goodly  Orestes  gat  him  among  all  men  in  that 
he  slew  the  slayer  of  his  father,  guileful  yEgisthus,  who  killed  his 
famous  sire }  And  thou,  too,  my  friend,  for  I  see  that  thou  art 
very  comely  and  tall,  be  valiant,  that  even  men  unborn  may  praise 
thee.  But  I  will  now  go  down  to  the  swift  ship  and  to  my  men, 
who  methinks  chafe  much  at  tarrying  for  me  ;  and  do  thou  thyself 
take  heed  and  give  ear  unto  my  words." 

Then  wise  Telemachus  answered  her,  saying  :  "  Sir,  verily  thou 
speakest  these  things  out  of  a  friendly  heart,  as  a  father  to  his  son, 
and  never  will  I  forget  them.  But  now  I  pray  thee  abide  here, 
though  eager  to  be  gone,  to  the  end  that  after  thou  hast  bathed 
and  had  all  thy  heart's  desire,  thou  mayst  wend  to  the  ship  joyful 
in  spirit,  with  a  costly  gift  and  very  goodly,  to  be  an  heirloom  of 
my  giving,  such  as  dear  friends  give  to  friends." 

Then  the  goddess,  grey-eyed  Athene,  answered  him  :  "  Hold  me 
now  no  longer,  that  am  eager  for  the  way.  But  whatsoever  gift 
thine  heart  shall  bid  thee  give  me,  when  I  am  on  my  way  back  let 
it  be  mine  to  carry  home  :  bear  from  thy  stores  a  gift  right  goodly, 
and  it  shall  bring  thee  the  worth  thereof  in  return." 


14  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

So  spake  she  and  departed,  the  grey-eyed  Athene,  and  Hke  an 
eagle  of  the  sea  slie  flew  away,  but  in  his  spirit  she  planted  might 
and  courage,  and  put  him  in  mind  of  his  father  yet  more  than 
heretofore.  And  he  marked  the  thing  and  was  amazed,  for  he 
deemed  that  it  was  a  god  ;  and  anon  he  went  among  the  wooers, 
a  godlike  man. 

Now  the  renowned  minstrel  was  singing  to  the  wooers,  and 
they  sat  listening  in  silence  ;  and  his  song  was  of  the  pitiful  return 
of  the  Achaeans,  that  Pallas  Athene  laid  on  them  as  they  came 
forth  from  Troy.  And  from  her  upper  chamber  the  daughter  of 
Icarius,  wise  Penelope,  caught  the  glorious  strain,  and  she  went 
down  the  high  stairs  from  her  chamber,  not  alone,  for  two  of  her 
handmaids  bare  her  company.  Now  when  the  fair  lady  had  come 
unto  the  wooers,  she  stood  by  the  door-post  of  the  well-builded 
roof  holding  up  her  glistening  tire  before  her  face  ;  and  a  faithful 
maiden  stood  on  either  side  of  her.  Then  she  fell  a  weeping,  and 
spake  unto  the  divine  minstrel : 

"  Phemius,  since  thou  knowest  many  other  charms  for  mortals, 
deeds  of  men  and  gods,  which  bards  rehearse,  some  one  of  these 
do  thou  sing  as  thou  sittest  by  them,  and  let  them  drink  their 
wine  in  silence  ;  but  cease  from  this  pitiful  strain,  that  ever  wastes 
my  heart  within  my  breast,  since  to  me  above  all  women  hath 
come  a  sorrow  comfortless.  So  dear  a  head  do  I  long  for  in  con- 
stant memory,  namely,  that  man  whose  fame  is  noised  abroad  from 
Hellas  to  mid  Argos." 

Then  wise  Telemachus  answered  her,  and  said  :  "  O  my  mother, 
why  then  dost  thou  grudge  the  sweet  minstrel  to  gladden  us  as 
his  spirit  moves  him  }  It  is  not  minstrels  who  are  in  fault,  but 
Zeus,  methinks,  is  in  fault,  who  gives  to  men,  that  live  by  bread, 
to  each  one  as  he  will.  As  for  him,  it  is  no  blame  if  he  sings  the 
ill-faring  of  the  Danaans  ;  for  men  always  prize  that  song  the 
most,  which  rings  newest  in  their  ears.  But  let  thy  heart  and  mind 
endure  to  listen,  for  not  Odysseus  only  lost  in  Troy  the  day  of  his 
returning,  but  many  another  likewise  perished.  Howbeit  go  to  thy 
chamber  and  mind  thine  own  housewiferies,  the  loom  and  distaff,  and 
bid  thy  handmaids  ply  their  tasks.  But  speech  shall  be  for  men, 
for  all,  but  for  me  in  chief  ;  for  mine  is  the  lordship  in  the  house." 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  15 

Then  in  amaze  she  went  back  to  her  chamber,  for  she  laid  up 
the  wise  saying  of  her  son  in  her  heart.  She  ascended  to  her 
upper  chamber  with  the  women  her  handmaids,  and  then  was  be- 
waihng  Odysseus,  her  dear  lord,  till  grey-eyed  Athene  cast  sweet 
sleep  upon  her  eyelids. 

2.   THE   PALACE  OF   MENELAUS 
Odyssey,  IV,  19-182 

Meanwhile  those  twain,  the  hero  Telemachus  and  the  splendid  son 
of  Nestor,  made  halt  at  the  entry  of  the  gate,  they  and  their  horses. 
And  the  lord  Eteoneus  came  forth  and  saw  them,  the  ready  squire 
of  renowned  Menelaus  ;  and  he  went  through  the  palace  to  bear 
the  tidings  to  the  shepherd  of  the  people,  and  standing  near  spake 
to  him  winged  words  : 

"  Menelaus,  fosterling  of  Zeus,  here  are  two  strangers,  whosoever 
they  be,  two  men  like  to  the  lineage  of  great  Zeus.  Say,  shall 
we  loose  their  swift  horses  from  under  the  yoke,  or  send  them 
onward  to  some  other  host  who  shall  receive  them  kindly  .?  " 

Then  in  sore  displeasure  spake  to  him  Menelaus  of  the  fair 
hair  :  "  Eteoneus  son  of  Boethous,  truly  thou  wert  not  a  fool  afore- 
time, but  now  for  this  once,  like  a  child  thou  talkest  folly.  Surely 
ourselves  ate  much  hospitable  cheer  of  other  men,  ere  we  twain 
came  hither,  even  if  in  time  to  come  Zeus  haply  give  us  rest  from 
affliction.  Nay  go,  unyoke  the  horses  of  the  strangers,  and  as  for 
the  men,  lead  them  forward  to  the  house  to  feast  with  us.'' 

So  spake  he,  and  Eteoneus  hasted  from  the  hall,  and  called  the 
other  ready  squires  to  follow  with  him.  So  they  loosed  the  sweat- 
ing horses  from  beneath  the  yoke,  and  fastened  them  at  the  stalls 
of  the  horses,  and  threw  beside  them  spelt,  and  therewith  mixed 
white  barley,  and  tilted  the  chariot  against  the  shining  faces  of 
the  gateway,  and  led  the  men  into  the  hall  divine.  And  they  be- 
held and  marvelled  as  they  gazed  throughout  the  palace  of  the 
king,  the  fosterling  of  Zeus  ;  for  there  was  a  gleam  as  it  were  of 
sun  or  moon  through  the  lofty  palace  of  renowned  Menelaus.  But 
after  they  had  gazed  their  fill,  they  went  to  the  polished  baths 
and  bathed  them.  Now  when  the  maidens  had  bathed  them  and 
anointed  them  with  olive  oil,  and  cast  about  them  thick  cloaks  and 


l6  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

doublets,  they  sat  on  chairs  by  Menelaus,  son  of  Atreus.  And  a 
handmaid  bare  water  for  the  hands  in  a  goodly  golden  ewer,  and 
poured  it  forth  over  a  silver  basin  to  wash  withal ;  and  to  their 
side  she  drew  a  polished  table,  and  a  grave  dame  bare  food  and 
set  it  by  them,  and  laid  upon  the  board  many  dainties,  giving  freely 
of  such  things  as  she  had  by  her,  and  a  carver  lifted  and  placed 
by  them  platters  of  divers  kinds  of  flesh,  and  nigh  them  he  set 
golden  bowls.  So  Menelaus  of  the  fair  hair  greeted  the  twain 
and  spake  : 

"  Taste  ye  food  and  be  glad,  and  thereafter  when  ye  have  supped, 
we  will  ask  what  men  ye  are ;  for  the  blood  of  your  parents  is  not 
lost  in  you,  but  ye  are  of  the  line  of  men  that  are  sceptred  kings, 
the  fosterlings  of  Zeus ;  for  no  churls  could  beget  sons  like  you." 

So  spake  he,  and  took  and  set  before  them  the  fat  ox-chine 
roasted,  which  they  had  given  him  as  his  own  mess  by  way  of 
honour.  And  they  stretched  forth  their  hands  upon  the  good  cheer 
set  before  them.  Now  when  they  had  put  from  them  the  desire 
of  meat  and  drink  Telemachus  spake  to  the  son  of  Nestor,  hold- 
ing his  head  close  to  him,  that  those  others  might  not  hear : 

"  Son  of  Nestor,  delight  of  my  heart,  mark  the  flashing  of  bronze 
through  the  echoing  halls,  and  the  flashing  of  gold  and  of  amber 
and  of  silver  and  of  ivory.  Such  like,  methinks,  is  the  court  of 
Olympian  Zeus  within,  for  the  world  of  things  that  are  here; 
wonder  comes  over  me  as  I  look  thereon." 

And  as  he  spake  Menelaus  of  the  fair  hair  was  ware  of  him, 
and  uttering  his  voice  spake  to  them  winged  words  : 

'"  Children  dear,  of  a  truth  no  one  of  mortal  men  may  contend 
with  Zeus,  for  his  mansions  and  his  treasures  are  everlasting :  but 
of  men  there  may  be  who  will  vie  with  me  in  treasure,  or  there 
may  be  none.  Yea,  for  after  many  a  woe  and  wanderings  mani- 
fold, I  brought  my  wealth  home  in  ships,  and  in  the  eighth  year 
came  hither.  I  roamed  over  Cyprus  and  Phoenicia  and  Egypt, 
and  reached  the  yf^thiopians  and  Sidonians  and  Erembi  and  Libya, 
where  lambs  are  horned  from  the  birth.  For  there  the  ewes  yean 
thrice  within  the  full  circle  of  a  year ;  there  neither  lord  nor  shep- 
herd lacketh  aught  of  cheese  or  flesh  or  of  sweet  milk,  but  ever 
the  flocks  yield  store  of  milk  continual.    While  I  was  yet  roaming 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  17 

in  those  lands,  gathering  much  hvehhood,  meantime  another  slew 
my  brother  privily,  at  unawares,  by  the  guile  of  his  accursed  wife. 
Thus,  look  you,  I  have  no  joy  of  my  lordship  among  these  my  pos- 
sessions :  and  ye  are  like  to  have  heard  hereof  from  your  fathers, 
whosoever  they  be,  for  I  have  suffered  much  and  let  a  house  go  to 
ruin  that  was  stablished  fair,  and  had  in  it  much  choice  substance. 
I  would  that  I  had  but  a  third  part  of  those  my  riches,  and  dwelt 
in  my  halls  and  that  those  men  were  yet  safe,  who  perished  of  old 
in  the  wide  land  of  Troy,  far  from  Argos,  the  pastureland  of  horses. 
Howbeit,  though  I  bewail  them  all  and  sorrow  oftentimes  as  I  sit 
in  our  halls,  —  awhile  indeed  I  satisfy  my  soul  with  lamentation, 
and  then  again  I  cease ;  for  soon  hath  man  enough  of  chill  lamen- 
tation—  yet  for  them  all  I  make  no  such  dole,  despite  my  grief, 
as  for  one  only,  who  causes  me  to  loathe  both  sleep  and  meat,  when 
I  think  upon  him.  For  no  one  of  the  Achaeans  toiled  so  greatly 
as  Odysseus  toiled  and  adventured  himself :  but  to  him  it  was  to 
be  but  labour  and  trouble,  and  to  me  grief  ever  comfortless  for  his 
sake,  so  long  he  is  afar,  nor  know  we  aught,  whether  he  be  alive 
or  dead.  Yea  methinks  they  lament  him,  even  that  old  Laertes 
and  the  constant  Penelope  and  Telemachus,  whom  he  left  a  child 
new-born  in  his  house." 

So  spake  he,  and  in  the  heart  of  Telemachus  he  stirred  a  yearn- 
ing to  lament  his  father  ;  and  at  his  father's  name  he  let  a  tear  fall 
from  his  eyelids  to  the  ground,  and  held  up  his  purple  mantle  with 
both  his  hands  before  his  eyes.  And  Menelaus  marked  him  and 
mused  in  his  mind  and  his  heart  whether  he  should  leave  him 
to  speak  of  his  father,  or  first  question  him  and  prove  him  in 
every  word. 

While  yet  he  pondered  these  things  in  his  mind  and  in  his 
heart,  Helen  came  forth  from  her  fragrant  vaulted  chamber,  like 
Artemis  of  the  golden  arrows  ;  and  with  her  came  Adraste  and  set 
for  her  the  well-wrought  chair,  and  Alcippe  bare  a  rug  of  soft  wool, 
and  Phylo  bare  a  silver  basket  which  Alcandre  gave  her,  the  wife 
of  Polybus,  who  dwelt  in  Thebes  of  Egypt,  where  is  the  chiefest 
store  of  wealth  in  the  houses.  He  gave  two  silver  baths  to  Mene- 
laus, and  tripods  twain,  and  ten  talents  of  gold.  And  besides  all 
this,  his  wife  bestowed  on  Helen  lovely  gifts  ;  a  golden  distaff  did 


1 8  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

she  give,  and  a  silver  basket  with  wheels  beneath,  and  the  rims 
thereof  were  finished  with  gold.  This  it  was  that  the  handmaid 
Phylo  bare  and  set  beside  her,  filled  with  dressed  yarn,  and  across 
it  was  laid  a  distaff  charged  with  wool  of  violet  blue.  So  Helen 
sat  her  down  in  the  chair,  and  beneath  was  a  footstool  for  the  feet. 
And  anon  she  spake  to  her  lord  and  questioned  him  of  each  thing  : 

"  Menelaus,  fosterling  of  Zeus,  know  we  now  who  these  men 
avow  themselves  to  be  that  have  come  under  our  roof .''  Shall  I 
dissemble  or  shall  I  speak  the  truth  ?  Nay,  I  am  minded  to  tell  it. 
None,  I  say,  have  I  ever  yet  seen  so  like  another,  man  or  woman 
—  wonder  comes  over  me  as  I  look  on  him  —  as  this  man  is  like 
the  son  of  great-hearted  Odysseus,  Telemachus,  whom  he  left  a 
new-born  child  in  his  house,  when  for  the  sake  of  me,  shameless 
woman  that  I  was,  ye  Achaeans  came  up  under  Troy  with  bold  war 
in  your  hearts." 

And  Menelaus  of  the  fair  hair  answered  her,  saying :  "  Now  I 
too,  lady,  mark  the  likeness  even  as  thou  tracest  it.  For  such  as 
these  were  his  feet,  such  his  hands,  and  the  glances  of  his  eyes, 
and  his  head,  and  his  hair  withal.  Yea,  and  even  now  I  was  speak- 
ing of  Odysseus,  as  I  remembered  him,  of  all  his  woeful  travail 
for  my  sake ;  when,  lo,  he  let  fall  a  bitter  tear  beneath  his  brows, 
and  held  his  purple  cloak  up  before  his  eyes." 

And  Peisistratus,  son  of  Nestor,  answered  him,  saying  :  "  Mene- 
laus, son  of  Atreus,  fosterling  of  Zeus,  leader  of  the  host,  assuredly 
this  is  the  son  of  that  very  man,  even  as  thou  sayest.  But  he  is  of 
a  sober  wit,  and  thinketh  it  shame  in  his  heart  as  on  this  his  first 
coming  to  make  show  of  presumptuous  words  in  the  presence  of 
thee,  in  whose  voice  we  twain  delight  as  in  the  voice  of  a  god. 
Now  Nestor  of  Gerenia,  lord  of  chariots,  sent  me  forth  to  be  his 
guide  on  the  way  :  for  he  desired  to  see  thee  that  thou  mightest 
put  into  his  heart  some  word  or  work.  L^or  a  son  hath  many 
griefs  in  his  halls  when  his  father  is  away,  if  perchance  he  hath 
none  to  stand  by  him.  Even  so  it  is  now  with  Telemachus  ;  his 
father  is  away,  nor  hath  he  others  in  the  township  to  defend  him 
from  distress." 

And  Menelaus  of  the  fair  hair  answered  him,  and  said  :  "  I.o 
now,  in  good  truth  there  has  come  unto  my  house  the  son  of  a 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  19 

friend  indeed,  who  for  my  sake  endured  many  adventures.  And 
I  thought  to  welcome  him  on  his  coming  more  nobly  than  all  the 
other  Argives,  if  but  Olympian  Zeus,  of  the  far-borne  voice,  had 
vouchsafed  us  a  return  over  the  sea  in  our  swift  ships,  —  that  such 
a  thing  should  be.  And  in  Argos  I  would  have  given  him  a  city 
to  dwell  in,  and  stablished  for  him  a  house,  and  brought  him  forth 
from  Ithaca  with  his  substance  and  his  son  and  all  his  people, 
making  one  city  desolate  of  those  that  lie  around,  and  are  in  mine 
own  domain.  Then  ofttimes  would  we  have  held  converse  here, 
and  nought  would'have  parted  us,  the  welcoming  and  the  welcomed, 
ere  the  black  cloud  of  death  overshadowed  us.  Howsoever,  the  god 
himself,  methinks,  must  have  been  jealous  hereof,  who  from  that 
hapless  man  alone  cut  off  his  returning." 

3.    THE  PALACE  OF  ALCINOUS 

The  shipwrecked  Odysseus  is  discovered  Iw  Nausicaa,  the 
daughter  of  Alcinous,  and  her  companions  who  "have  been  to  the 
river  with  their  washing. 

Odyssey,  VI,  247-315 

Thus  she  spake,  and  they  gave  ready  ear  and  hearkened,  and 
set  beside  Odysseus  meat  and  drink,  and  the  steadfast  goodly  Odys- 
seus did  eat  and  drink  eagerly,  for  it  was  long  since  he  had  tasted 
food. 

Now  Nausicaa  of  the  white  arms  had  another  thought.  She 
folded  the  raiment  and  stored  it  in  the  goodly  wain,  and  yoked 
the  mules  strong  of  hoof,  and  herself  climbed  into  the  car.  Then 
she  called  on  Odysseus,  and  spake  and  hailed  him  :  '"  Up  now, 
stranger,  and  rouse  thee  to  go  to  the  city,  that  I  may  convey  thee 
to  the  house  of  my  wise  father,  where,  I  promise  thee,  thou  shalt 
get  knowledge  of  all  the  noblest  of  the  Phaeacians.  But  do  thou 
even  as  I  tell  thee,  and  thou  seemest  a  discreet  man  enough.  So 
long  as  we  are  passing  along  the  fields  and  farms  of  men,  do  thou 
fare  quickly  with  the  maidens  behind  the  mules  and  the  chariot, 
and  I  will  lead  the  way.  But  when  we  set  foot  within  the  city,  — 
whereby  goes  a  high  wall  with  towers,  and  there  is  a  fair  haven  on 
either  side  of  the  town,  and  narrow  is  the  entrance,  and  curved 


20  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

ships  are  drawn  up  on  either  hand  of  the  mole,  for  all  the  folk 
have  stations  for  their  vessels,  each  man  one  for  himself.  And 
there  is  the  place  of  assembly  about  the  goodly  temple  of  Poseidon, 
furnished  with  heavy  stones,  deep  bedded  in  the  earth.  There  men 
look  to  the  gear  of  the  black  ships,  hawsers  and  sails,  and  there 
they  fine  down  the  oars.  For  the  Phseacians  care  not  for  bow  nor 
quiver,  but  for  masts,  and  oars  of  ships,  and  gallant  barques,  wherein 
rejoicing  they  cross  the  grey  sea.  Their  ungracious  speech  it  is 
that  I  would  avoid  lest  some  man  afterward  rebuke  me,  and  there 
are  but  too  many  insolent  folk  among  the  people.  And  some  one 
of  the  baser  sort  might  meet  me  and  say  :  '  Who  is  this  that  goes 
with  Nausicaa,  this  tall  and  goodly  stranger  ?  Where  found  she 
him  }  Her  husband  he  will  be,  her  very  own.  Either  she  has  taken 
in  some  shipwrecked  wanderer  of  strange  men,  —  for  no  men 
dwell  near  us  ;  or  some  god  has  come  in  answer  to  her  instant 
prayer ;  from  heaven  has  he  descended,  and  will  have  her  to  wife 
for  evermore.  B.etter  so,  if  herself  she  has  ranged  abroad  and 
found  a  lord  from  a  strange  land,  for  verily  she  holds  in  no  regard 
the  Phseacians  here  in  this  countiy,  the  many  men  and  noble  who 
are  her  wooers.'  So  will  they  speak,  and  this  would  turn  to  my 
reproach.  Yea,  and  I  myself  w^ould  think  it  blame  of  another 
maiden  who  did  such  things  in  despite  of  her  friends,  her  father 
and  mother  being  still  alive,  and  was  conversant  with  men  before 
the  day  of  open  wedlock.  But,  stranger,  heed  well  what  I  say,  that 
as  soon  as  may  be  thou  mayest  gain  at  my  father's  hands  an  escort 
and  a  safe  return.  Thou  shalt  find  a  fair  grove  of  Athene,  a  pop- 
lar grove  near  the  road,  and  a  spring  wells  forth  therein,  and  a 
meadow  lies  all  around.  There  is  my  father's  demesne,  and  his 
fruitful  close,  within  the  sound  of  a  man's  shout  from  the  city.  Sit 
thee  down  there  and  wait  until  such  time  as  we  may  have  come 
into  the  city,  and  reached  the  house  of  my  father.  But  when  thou 
deemest  that  we  are  got  to  the  palace,  then  go  up  to  the  city  of 
the  Phseacians,  and  ask  for  the  house  of  my  father  Alcinous,  high 
of  heart.  It  is  easily  known,  and  a  young  child  could  be  thy  guide, 
for  nowise  like  it  are  builded  the  houses  of  the  Phseacians,  so 
goodly  is  the  palace  of  the  hero  Alcinous.  But  when  thou  art 
within  the  shadow  of  the  halls  and  the  court,  pass  quickly  through 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  21 

the  great  chamber,  till  thou  comest  to  my  mother,  who  sits  at  the 
hearth  in  the  light  of  the  fire,  weaving  yarn  of  sea-purple  stain,  a 
wonder  to  behold.  Her  chair  is  leaned  against  a  pillar,  and  her 
maidens  sit  behind  her.  And  there  my  father's  throne  leans  close 
to  hers,  wherein  he  sits  and  drinks  his  wine  like  an  immortal.  Pass 
thou  by  him,  and  cast  thy  hands  about  my  mother's  knees,  that 
thou  mayest  see  quickly  and  with  joy  the  day  of  thy  returning,  even 
if  thou  art  from  a  very  far  country.  If  but  her  heart  be  kindly  dis- 
posed toward  thee,  then  is  there  hope  that  thou  shalt  see  thy  friends, 
and  come  to  thy  well-builded  house,  and  to  thine  own  country." 

Athene,  in  the  fashion  of  a  young  maiden  carrying  a  pitcher, 
meets  Odysseus  and  guides  him  to  the  house  of  Alcinous. 

Odyssey,  VII,  78-181 

Therewith  grey-eyed  Athene  departed  over  the  unharvested  seas, 
and  left  pleasant  Scheria,  and  came  to  Marathon  and  wide-wayed 
Athens,  and  entered  the  good  house  of  Erechtheus.  Meanwhile 
Odysseus  went  to  the  famous  palace  of  Alcinous,  and  his  heart 
was  full  of  many  thoughts  as  he  stood  there  or  ever  he  had  reached 
the  threshold  of  bronze.  For  there  was  gleam  as  it  were  of  sun 
or  moon  through  the  high-roofed  hall  of  great-hearted  Alcinous. 
Brazen  were  the  walls  which  ran  this  way  and  that  from  the  thresh- 
old to  the  inmost  chamber,  and  round  them  was  a  frieze  of  blue, 
and  golden  were  the  doors  that  closed  in  the  good  house.  Silver 
were  the  door-posts  that  were  set  on  the  brazen  threshold,  and 
silver  the  lintel  thereupon,  and  the  hook  of  the  door  was  of  gold. 
And  on  either  side  stood  golden  hounds  and  silver,  which  Hephaes- 
tus wrought  by  his  cunning,  to  guard  the  palace  of  great-hearted 
Alcinous,  being  free  from  death  and  age  all  their  days.  And  within 
were  seats  arrayed  against  the  wall  this  way  and  that,  from  the 
threshold  even  to  the  inmost  chamber,  and  thereon  were  spread 
light  coverings  finely  woven,  the  handiwork  of  women.  There  the 
Phaeacian  chieftains  were  wont  to  sit  eating  and  drinking,  for  they 
had  continual  store.  Yea,  and  there  were  youths  fashioned  in  gold, 
standing  on  firm-set  bases,  with  flaming  torches  in  their  hands,  giv- 
ing light  through  the  night  to  the  feasters  in  the  palace.  And  he 
had  fifty  handmaids  in  the  house,  and  some  grind  the  yellow  grain 


22  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

on  the  millstone,  and  others  weave  webs  and  turn  the  yarn  as  they 
sit,  restless  as  the  leaves  of  the  tall  poplar  tree  :  and  the  soft  olive 
oil  drops  off  that  linen,  so  closely  is  it  woven.  For  as  the  Phseacian 
men  are  skilled  beyond  all  others  in  driving  a  swift  ship  upon  the 
deep,  even  so  are  the  women  the  most  cunning  at  the  loom,  for 
Athene  hath  given  them  notable  wisdom  in  all  fair  handiwork  and 
cunning  wit.  And  without  the  courtyard  hard  by  the  door  is  a  great 
garden,  of  four  ploughgates,  and  a  hedge  runs  round  on  either  side. 
And  there  grow  tall  trees  blossoming,  pear-trees  and  pomegranates, 
and  apple-trees  with  bright  fruit,  and  sweet  figs,  and  olives  in  their 
bloom.  The  fruit  of  these  trees  never  perisheth  neither  faileth, 
winter  nor  summer,  enduring  through  all  the  year.  Evermore  the 
West  Wind  blowing  brings  some  fruits  to  birth  and  ripens  others. 
Pear  upon  pear  waxes  old,  and  apple  on  apple,  yea  and  cluster 
ripens  upon  cluster  of  the  grape,  and  fig  upon  fig.  There  too  hath 
he  a  fruitful  vineyard  planted,  whereof  the  one  part  is  being  dried 
by  the  heat,  a  sunny  plot  on  level  ground,  while  other  grapes  men 
are  gathering,  and  yet  others  they  are  treading  in  the  wine-press. 
In  the  foremost  row  are  unripe  grapes  that  cast  the  blossom,  and 
others  there  be  that  are  growing  black  to  vintaging.  There  too, 
skirting  the  furthest  line,  are  all  manner  of  garden  beds,  planted 
trimly,  that  are  perpetually  fresh,  and  therein  are  two  fountains  of 
water,  whereof  one  scatters  his  streams  all  about  the  garden,  and 
the  other  runs  over  against  it  beneath  the  threshold  of  the  court- 
yard, and  issues  by  the  lofty  house,  and  thence  did  the  townsfolk 
draw  water.  These  were  the  splendid  gifts  of  the  gods  in  the 
palace  of  Alcinous. 

There  the  steadfast  goodly  Odysseus  stood  and  gazed.  But  when 
he  had  gazed  at  all  and  wondered,  he  passed  quickly  over  the 
threshold  within  the  house.  And  he  found  the  captains  and  the 
counsellors  of  the  Phaeacians  pouring  forth  wine  to  the  keen-sighted 
god,  the  slayer  of  Argos  ;  for  to  him  they  poured  the  last  cup  when 
they  were  minded  to  take  rest.  Now  the  steadfast  goodly  Odysseus 
went  through  the  house,  clad  in  a  thick  mist,  which  Athene  shed 
around  him,  till  he  came  to  Arete  and  the  king  Alcinous.  And 
Odysseus  cast  his  hands  about  the  knees  of  Arete,  and  then  it  was 
that  the  wondrous  mist  melted  from  off  him,  and  a  silence  fell  on 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  23 

them  that  were  within  the  house  at  the  sight  of  him,  and  they  mar- 
velled as  they  beheld  him.    Hien  Odysseus  began  his  prayer : 

"Arete,  daughter  of  god-like  Rhexenor,  after  many  toils  am  I 
come  to  thy  husband  and  to  thy  knees  and  to  these  guests,  and 
may  the  gods  vouchsafe  them  a  happy  life,  and  may  each  one  leave 
to  his  children  after  him  his  substance  in  his  halls  and  whatever 
dues  of  honour  the  people  have  rendered  unto  him.  But  speed, 
I  pray  you,  my  parting,  that  I  may  come  the  more  quickly  to  mine 
own  country,  for  already  too  long  do  I  suffer  affliction  far  from 
my  friends." 

Therewith  he  sat  him  down  by  the  hearth  in  the  ashes  at  the  fire, 
and  behold,  a  dead  silence  fell  on  all.  And  at  the  last  the  ancient 
lord  Echeneus  spake  among  them,  an  elder  of  the  Phaeacians,  ex- 
cellent in  speech  and  skilled  in  much  wisdom  of  old  time.  With 
good  will  he  made  harangue  and  spake  among  them  : 

"'  Alcinous,  this  truly  is  not  the  more  seemly  way,  nor  is  it  fitting 
that  the  stranger  should  sit  upon  the  ground  in  the  ashes  by  the 
hearth,  while  these  men  refrain  them,  waiting  thy  word.  Nay  come, 
bid  the  stranger  arise,  and  set  him  on  a  chair  inlaid  with  silver, 
and  command  the  henchmen  to  mix  the  wine,  that  we  may  pour 
forth  likewise  before  Zeus,  whose  joy  is  in  the  thunder,  who  at- 
tendeth  upon  reverend  suppliants.  And  let  the  housewife  give 
supper  to  the  stranger  out  of  such  stores  as  be  within." 

Now  when  the  mighty  king  Alcinous  heard  this  saying,  he  took 
Odysseus,  the  wise  and  crafty,  by  the  hand,  and  raised  him  from 
the  hearth,  and  set  him  on  a  shining  chair,  whence  he  bade  his 
son  give  place,  valiant  Laodamas,  who  sat  next  him  and  was  his 
dearest.  And  a  handmaid  bare  water  for  the  hands  in  a  goodly 
golden  ewer,  and  poured  it  forth  over  a  silver  basin  to  wash  withal, 
and  drew  to  his  side  a  polished  table.  And  a  grave  dame  bare 
wheaten  bread  and  set  it  by  hini  and  laid  upon  the  board  many 
dainties,  giving  freely  of  such  things  as  she  had  by  her.  So  the 
steadfast  goodly  Odysseus  did  eat  and  drink  ;  and  then  the  mighty 
Alcinous  spake  unto  the  henchman  : 

"  Pontonous,  mix  the  bowl  and  serve  out  the  wine  to  all  in  the 
hall,  that  we  may  pour  forth  likewise  before  Zeus,  whose  joy  is  in 
the  thunder,  who  attendeth  upon  reverend  suppliants." 


24  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

III.    The  Shield  of  Achilles 

///<?^,  XVIII,  468-617 

Thus  saying  he  left  her  there  and  went  unto  his  bellows  and 
turned  them  upon  the  fire  and  bade  them  work.  And  the  bellows, 
twenty  in  all,  blew  on  the  crucibles,  sending  deft  blasts  on  every 
side,  now  to  aid  his  labour  and  now  anon  howsoever  Hephaistos 
willed  and  the  work  went  on.  And  he  threw  bronze  that  weareth 
not  into  the  fire,  and  tin  and  precious  gold  and  silver,  and  next  he 
set  on  an  anvil-stand  a  great  anvil,  and  took  in  his  hand  a  sturdy 
hammer,  and  in  the  other  he  took  the  tongs. 

First  fashioned  he  a  shield  great  and  strong,  adorning  it  all 
over,  and  set  thereto  a  shining  rim,  triple,  bright-glancing,  and 
therefrom  a  silver  baldrick.  Five  were  the  folds  of  the  shield  it- 
self ;  and  therein  fashioned  he  much  cunning  work  from  his  wise 
heart. 

There  wrought  he  the  earth,  and  the  heavens,  and  the  sea,  and 
the  unwearying  sun,  and  the  moon  waxing  to  the  full,  and  the 
signs  every  one  wherewith  the  heavens  are  crowned,  Pleiads  and 
Hyads  and  Orion's  might,  and  the  Bear  that  men  call  also  the 
Wain,  her  that  turneth  in  her  place  and  watcheth  Orion,  and  alone 
hath  no  part  in  the  baths  of  Ocean. 

Also  he  fashioned  therein  two  fair  cities  of  mortal  men.  In  the 
one  were  espousals  and  marriage  feasts,  and  beneath  the  blaze  of 
torches  they  were  leading  the  brides  from  their  chambers  through 
the  city,  and  loud  arose  the  bridal  song.  And  young  men  were 
whirling  in  the  dance,  and  among  them  flutes  and  viols  sounded 
high  ;  and  the  women  standing  each  at  her  door  were  marvelling. 
But  the  folk  were  gathered  in  the  assembly  place ;  for  there  a  strife 
was  arisen,  two  men  striving  about  the  blood-price  of  a  man  slain ; 
the  one  claimed  to  pay  full  atonement,  expounding  to  the  people, 
but  the  other  denied  him  and  would  take  naught ;  and  both  were . 
fain  to  receive  arbitrament  at  the  hand  of  a  daysman.  And  the 
folk  were  cheering  both,  as  they  took  part  on  either  side.  And 
heralds  kept  order  among  the  folk,  while  the  elders  on  polished 
stones  were  sitting  in  the  sacred  circle,  and  holding  in  their  hands 
staves  from  the  loud-voiced  heralds.    Then  before  the  people  they 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  25 

rose  up  and  gave  judgment  each  in  turn.  And  in  the  midst  lay 
two  talents  of  gold,  to  be  given  unto  him  who  should  plead  among 
them  most  righteously. 

But  around  the  other  city  were  two  armies  in  siege  with  glitter- 
ing arms.  And  two  counsels  found  favour  among  them,  either  to 
sack  the  town  or  to  share  all  with  the  townsfolk  even  whatsoever 
substance  the  fair  city  held  within.  But  the  besieged  were  not  yet 
yielding,  but  arming  for  an  ambushment.  On  the  wall  there  stood 
to  guard  it  their  dear  wives  and  infant  children,  and  with  these  the 
old  men  ;  but  the  rest  went  forth,  and  their  leaders  were  Ares  and 
Pallas  Athene,  both  wrought  in  gold,  and  golden  was  the  vesture 
they  had  on.  Goodly  and  great  were  they  in  their  armour,  even  as 
gods,  far  seen  around,  and  the  folk  at  their  feet  were  smaller.  And 
when  they  came  where  it  seemed  good  to  them  to  lay  ambush,  in 
a  river  bed  where  there  was  a  common  watering-place  of  herds, 
there  they  set  them,  clad  in  glittering  bronze.  And  two  scouts  were 
posted  by  them  afar  off  to  spy  the  coming  of  flocks  and  of  oxen 
with  crooked  horns.  And  presently  came  the  cattle,  and  with  them 
two  herdsmen  playing  on  pipes,  that  took  no  thought  of  the  guile. 
Then  the  others  when  they  beheld  these  ran  upon  them  and  quickly 
cut  off  the  herds  of  oxen  and  fair  flocks  of  white  sheep,  and  slew 
the  shepherds  withal.  But  the  besiegers,  as  they  sat  before  the 
speech-places  and  heard  much  din  among  the  oxen,  mounted  forth- 
with behind  their  high-stepping  horses,  and  came  up  with  speed. 
Then  they  arrayed  their  battle  and  fought  beside  the  river  banks, 
and  smote  one  another  with  bronze-shod  spears.  And  among  them 
mingled  Strife  and  Tumult,  and  fell  Death,  grasping  one  man 
alive  fresh-wounded,  another  without  wound,  and  dragging  another 
dead  through  the  mellay  by  the  feet ;  and  the  raiment  on  her 
shoulders  was  red  with  the  blood  of  men..  Like  living  mortals 
they  hurled  together  and  fought,  and  haled  the  corpses  each  of  the 
other's  slain. 

Furthermore  he  set  in  the  shield  a  soft  fresh-ploughed  field, 
rich  tilth  and  wide,  the  third  time  ploughed  ;  and  many  ploughers 
therein  drave  their  yokes  to  and  fro  as  they  wheeled  about.  When- 
soever they  came  to  the  boundary  of  the  field  and  turned,  then 
would  a  man  come  to  each  and  give  into  his  hands  a  goblet  of 


26  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

sweet  wine,  while  others  would  be  turning  back  along  the  furrows, 
fain  to  reach  the  boundary  of  the  deep  tilth.  And  the  field  grew 
black  behind  and  seemed  as  it  were  a-ploughing,  albeit  of  gold,  for 
this  was  the  great  marvel  of  the  work. 

Furthermore  he  set  therein  the  demesne-land  of  a  king,  where 
hinds  were  reaping  with  sharp  sickles  in  their  hands.  Some  arm- 
fuls  along  the  swathe  were  falling  in  rows  to  the  earth,  whilst  others 
the  sheaf-binders  were  binding  in  twisted  bands  of  straw.  Three 
sheaf-binders  stood  over  them,  while  behind  boys  gathering  corn 
and  bearing  it  in  their  arms  gave  it  constantly  to  the  binders  ;  and 
among  them  the  king  in  silence  was  standing  at  the  swathe  with 
his  staff,  rejoicing  in  his  heart.  And  henchmen  apart  beneath  an 
oak  were  making  ready  a  feast,  and  preparing  a  great  ox  they  had 
sacrificed  ;  while  the  women  were  strewing  much  white  barley  to 
be  a  supper  for  the  hinds. 

Also  he  set  therein  a  vineyard  teeming  plenteously  with  clusters, 
wrought  fair  in  gold  ;  black  were  the  grapes,  but  the  vines  hung 
throughout  on  silver  poles.  And  around  it  he  ran  a  ditch  of  cy- 
anus,  and  round  that  a  fence  of  tin  ;  and  one  single  pathway  led 
to  it,  whereby  the  vintagers  might  go  when  they  should  gather  the 
vintage.  And  maidens  and  striplings  in  childish  glee  bare  the  sweet 
fruit  in  plaited  baskets.  And  in  the  midst  of  them  a  boy  made 
pleasant  music  on  a  clear-toned  viol,  and  sang  thereto  a  sweet  Linos- 
song  with  delicate  voice ;  while  the  rest  with  feet  falling  together 
kept  time  with  the  music  and  song. 

Also  he  wrought  therein  a  herd  of  kine  with  upright  horns,  and 
the  kine  were  fashioned  of  gold  and  tin,  and  with  lowing  they 
hurried  from  the  byre  to  pasture  beside  a  murmuring  river,  beside 
the  waving  reed.  And  herdsmen  of  gold  were  following  with  the 
kine,  four  of  them,  and  nine  dogs  fleet  of  foot  came  after  them. 
But  two  terrible  lions  among  the  foremost  kine  had  seized  a  loud- 
roaring  bull  that  bellowed  mightily  as  they  haled  him,  and  the  dogs 
and  the  young  men  sped  after  him.  The  lions  rending  the  great 
bull's  hide  were  devouring  his  vitals  and  his  black  blood  ;  while 
the  herdsmen  in  vain  tarred  on  their  fleet  dogs  to  set  on,  for  they 
shrank  from  biting  the  lions  but  stood  hard  by  and  barked  and 
swerved  away. 


THE  HEROIC  AGE  27 

Also  the  glorious  lame  god  wrought  therein  a  pasture  in  a  fair 
glen,  a  great  pasture  of  white  sheep,  and  a  steading,  and  roofed 
huts,  and  folds. 

Also  did  the  glorious  lame  god  devise  a  dancing-place  like  unto 
that  which  once  in  wide  Knosos  Daidalos  wrought  for  Ariadne  of 
the  lovely  tresses.  There  were  youths  dancing  and  maidens  of 
costly  wooing,  their  hands  upon  one  another's  wrists.  Fine  linen 
the  maidens  had  on,  and  the  youths  well-woven  doublets  faintly 
glistening  with  oil.  Fair  wreaths  had  the  maidens,  and  the  youths 
daggers  of  gold  hanging  from  silver  baldricks.  And  now  would  they 
run  round  with  deft  feet  exceeding  lightly,  as  when  a  potter  sitting 
by  his  wheel  that  fitteth  between  his  hands  maketh  trial  of  it  whether 
it  run  :  and  now  anon  they  would  run  in  lines  to  meet  each  other. 
And  a  great  company  stood  round  the  lovely  dance  in  joy  ;  (and 
among  them  a  divine  minstrel  was  making  music  on  his  lyre),  and 
through  the  midst  of  them,  leading  the  measure,  two  tumblers 
whirled. 

Also  he  set  therein  the  great  might  of  the  River  of  Ocean  around 
the  uttermost  rim  of  the  cunningly-fashioned  shield. 

Now  when  he  had  wrought  the  shield  great  and  strong,  then 
wrought  he  him  a  corslet  brighter  than  a  flame  of  fire,  and  he 
wrought  him  a  massive  helmet  to  fit  his  brows,  goodly  and  graven, 
and  set  thereon  a  crest  of  gold,  and  he  wrought  him  greaves  of 
pliant  tin. 

So  when  the  renowned  lame  god  had  finished  all  the  armour,  he 
took  and  laid  it  before  the  mother  of  Achilles. -Then  she  like  a  fal- 
con sprang  down  from  snowy  Olympus,  bearing  from  Hephaistos 
the  glittering  arms. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Primary  Sources  :  Iliad  ;  Odyssey. 

Derivative  Sources:  Thucydides,  I,  2-12. 

Modern  Authorities:  Bury,  History  of  Greece,  chap,  i;  Botsford,  History  of 
Greece,  chap,  i ;  Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte  bis  zur  Schlacht  bei  Chaeroneia, 
Band  I,  Kap.  i,  §  5  ;  Holm,  History  of  Greece,  Vol.  I,  chaps,  xiii-xiv  ;  Abbott,  His- 
tory of  Greece,  Vol.  I,  chap,  v  ;  Curtius,  History  of  Greece,  Bk.  I,  chap,  iv  ;  Grote, 
History  of  Greece,  Vol.  II,  chaps,  xx-xxi ;  Fowler,  The  City-State  of  the  Greeks 
and   Romans,  chap,  iii ;  Jebb,  Introduction  to  Homer;  Jebb,  Greek   Literature 


28  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

(primer),  chap,  ii ;  Mahaffy,  Survey  of  Greek  Civilization,  chap,  ii ;  Mahaffy,  Social 
Life  in  Greece,  chaps,  ii-iii ;  Mahaffy,  History  of  Greek  Literature,  Vol.  I,  chaps, 
iii-iv ;  Murray,  Ancient  Greek  Literature,  chap,  i ;  Murray,  Rise  of  the  Greek 
Epic ;  Lang,  Homer  and  the  Epic  ;  Lang,  The  World  of  Homer ;  Lang,  Homer 
and  his  Age  ;  Browne,  Handbook  of  Homeric  Study  ;  Seymour,  Life  in  the  Homeric 
Age ;  Keller,  Homeric  Society. 

Books  on  the  Prehistoric  Period  (chiefly  archseological) :  Fowler  and  Wheeler, 
Greek  Archaeology,  chap,  i;  Hawes,  Crete,  the  Forerunner  of  Greece;  Hawes, 
Gournia ;  Baikie,  The  Sea  Kings  of  Crete  ;  Burrows,  The  Discoveries  in  Crete  ; 
Mosso,  The  Palaces  of  Crete  and  their  liuilders ;  Lagrange,  La  Crete  ancienne ; 
Dussaud,  Les  Civilisations  prehelleniques ;  Hall,  The  Oldest  Civilization  of 
Greece ;  Ridgeway,  The  Early  Aga  of  Greece ;  Tsountas  and  Manatt,  The 
Mycenaean  Age  ;  Percy  Gardner,  New  Chapters  in  Greek  History  ;  Schuchhardt, 
Schliemann's  Excavations  (tr.  Sellers) ;  Frazer,  Pausanias's  Description  of  Greece 
(see  Index) ;  Diehl,  Excursions  in  Greece  ;  Holm,  Vol.  I,  chap,  viii ;  Myres,  The 
Dawn  of  History  (especially  chaps,  viii-ix) ;  Hogarth,  Ionia  and  the  East;  Hogarth, 
Authority  and  Archaeology  (especially  Part  II,  chap,  ii) ;  Perrot  and  Chipiez, 
History  of  Art;  Annual  of  the  British  School  at  Athens  (for  official  reports  of 
excavations  especially  in  Crete  and  the  Islands)  ;  Busolt,  Band  I,  Kap.  i,  §§  1-5. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE 

The  colonies  in  the  east — Miletus  and  her  colonies  —  Byzantium  —  Euboean 
colonies  —  The  colonies  in  the  west  —  Cumas  —  Naples  —  Sybaris  and  Croton  — 
Marseilles  —  Sicily  —  The  importance  of  Corinth  —  The  colonies  in  North  Africa 
—  Naucratis — Libyan  colonies — Founding  a  colony,  and  its  relation  to  the 
mother  city  —  Gyges  and  Colophon;  Asia  Minor  —  Trade  and  travel;  naval 
power — The  farmer's  life 

I.    The  Colonies  in  the  East 

The  spread  of  Greek  civilization  was  due  largely  to  the  coast  cities 
of  Asia  Minor  with  whom  the  colonizing  movement  began,  probably 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighth  century  b.c.  It  was  not  long, 
however,  before  the  cities  of  Greece  played  an  active  part. 

Unfortunately  the  contemporary  records  are  very  scanty,  but  we 
have  in  the  work  of  Strabo,  who  lived  in  the  Augustan  age,  a 
description  which  combines  geographical  features  and  history. 

The  selections  show  the  wide  extent  of  the  movement  for  expansion. 

1.    MILETUS   AND   HER  COLONIES 

Strabo,  XIV,  i,  6 

Ephorus  relates  that  Miletus  was  first  founded  and  fortified  by 
the  Cretans  on  the  spot  above  the  sea-coast  where  at  present  the 
ancient  Miletus  is  situated,  and  that  Sarpedon  conducted  thither 
settlers  from  the  Miletus  in  Crete,  and  gave  it  the  same  name ; 
that  Leleges  were  the  former  occupiers  of  the  country,  and  that 
afterwards  Neleus  built  the  present  city. 

The  present  city  has  four  harbours,  one  of  which  will  admit  a 
fleet  of  ships.  The  citizens  have  achieved  many  great  deeds,  but 
the  most  important  is  the  number  of  colonies  which  they  estab- 
lished. The  whole  Euxine,  for  instance,  and  the  Propontis,  and 
many  other  places,  are  peopled  with  their  settlers. 

29 


30  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

Anacreon,  Frag.  85 

Once  upon  a  time  the  Milesians  were  vigorous. 

Strahfl^  XII,  iii,  1 1 

Next  is  Sinope  itself,  distant  from  Armene  50  stadia,  the  most 
considerable  of  all  the  cities  in  that  quarter.  It  was  founded  by 
Milesians,  and  when  the  inhabitants  had  established  a  naval  force 
they  commanded  the  sea  within  the  Cyanean  rocks,  and  were  allies 
of  the  Greeks  in  many  naval  battles  beyond  these  limits.  ...  It 
has  received  advantages  from  nature  which  have  been  improved  by 
art.  It  is  built  upon  the  neck  of  a  peninsula  ;  on  each  side  of  the 
isthmus  are  harbours,  stations  for  vessels,  and  fisheries  worthy  of 
admiration  for  the  capture  of  the  pelamydes.  Of  these  fisheries 
we  have  said  that  the  people  of  Sinope  have  the  second,  and  the 
Byzantines  the  third,  in  point  of  excellence. 

The  peninsula  projects  in  a  circular  form  ;  the  shores  are  sur- 
rounded by  a  chain  of  rocks,  and  in  some  parts  there  are  cavities, 
like  rocky  pits,  which  are  called  Chcenicides.  These  are  filled 
when  the  sea  is  high.  For  the  above  reason,  the  place  is  not 
easily  approached  ;  besides  which,  along  the  whole  surface  of  rock 
the  road  is  covered  with  sharp-pointed  stones,  and  persons  cannot 
walk  upon  it  with  naked  feet.  The  lands  in  the  higher  parts  and 
above  the  city  have  a  good  soil,  and  are  adorned  with  fields  dressed 
as  gardens,  and  this  is  the  case  in  a  still  greater  degree  in  the 
suburbs.  The  city  itself  is  well  secured  with  walls,  and  magnifi- 
cently ornamented  with  a  gymnasium,  forum,  and  porticos. 

Strabo,  XII,  viii,  1 1 

Cyzicus  is  an  island  in  the  Propontis,  joined  to  the  continent  by 
two  bridges.  It  is  exceedingly  fertile.  It  is  about  500  stadia  in 
circumference.  There  is  a  city  of  the  same  name  near  the  bridges, 
with  two  close  harbours,  and  more  than  two  hundred  docks  for 
vessels.  One  part  of  the  city  is  in  a  plain,  the  other  near  the 
mountain  which  is  called  Arcton-oros  (or  Bear-mountain).  Above 
this  is  another  mountain,  the  Dindymus,  with  one  peak,  having 
on  it  a  temple  founded  by  the  Argonauts  in  honour  of  Dindymene, 
mother  of  the  gods.    This  city  rivals  in  size,  beauty,  and  in  the 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE  31 

excellent  administration  of  affairs,  both  in  peace  and  war,  the  cities 
which  hold  the  first  rank  in  Asia.  It  appears  to  be  embellished  in 
a  manner  similar  to  Rhodes,  Massalia,  and  ancient  Carthage. 

2.    BYZANTIUM 
Sfrabfl,  VII,  vi,  2 

After  the  foundation  of  Chalcedon,  Apollo  is  said  to  have  en- 
joined the  founders  of  Byzantium,  in  answer  to  their  inquiries,  to 
build  their  city  opposite  to  the  Blind,  applying  this  name  to  the 
Chalcedonians,  who,  although  they  were  the  first  persons  to  arrive  in 
these  parts,  had  omitted  to  take  possession  of  the  opposite  side,  which 
afforded  such  great  resources  of  wealth,  and  chose  the  barren  coast. 

3.    EUBCEAN  COLONIES 
Sfralx),  X,  i,  8 

These  cities,  Eretria  and  Chalcis,  when  their  population  was 
greatly  augmented,  sent  out  considerable  colonies  to  Macedonia, 
for  Eretria  founded  cities  about  Pallene  and  Mount  Athos  ;  Chalcis 
founded  some  near  Olynthus,  which  Philip  destroyed.  There  are 
also  many  settlements  in  Italy  and  Sicily,  founded  by  Chalcidians. 
These  colonies  were  sent  out,  according  to  Aristotle,  when  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Hippobatae,  {or  Knights,)  as  it  is  called,  was  estab- 
lished ;  it  was  an  aristocratical  government,  the  heads  of  which 
held  their  office  by  virtue  of  the  amount  of  their  property. 

Sfrabo,  Frag.  1 1 

The  Chalcidenses  came  from  Euboea  into  the  territory  of  the 
Sithones,  and  there  founded  about  thirty  cities.  They  were  subse- 
quently driven  out  by  the  Sithones,  but  the  greater  part  of  them 
collected  together  into  a  single  city,  namely,  Olynthus.  They  had 
the  name  of  Chalcidenses-in-Thrace. 

II.    The  Colonies  in  the  West 

1.    CUM/L 
S/ra/'o,  V,  iv,  4 

After  these  (cities)  comes  Cumae,  the  most  ancient  settlement 

of  the  Chalcidenses  and  Cumaeans,  for  it  is  the  oldest  of  all  (the 

Greek  cities)  in  Sicily  or  Italy.    The  leaders  of  the  expedition, 


32  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Hippocles  the  Cumaean  and  Megasthenes  of  Chalcis,  having  mutu- 
ally agreed  that  one  of  the  nations  should  have  the  management 
of  the  colony,  and  the  other  the  honour  of  conferring  upon  it  its 
own  name.  Hence  at  the  present  day  it  is  named  Cumae,  while  at 
the  same  time  it  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  the  Chalcidenses. 

2.    NAPLES 
Strabo,  V,  iv,  7 

After  Dicaearchia  is  Neapolis,  (founded  originally)  by  the  Cumasi, 

but  afterwards  being  peopled  by  Chalcidians,  and  certain  Pithe- 

cussaeans  and    Athenians,   it  was   on  this   account  denominated 

Naples,  ,  .  .    There  is  here  a  subterranean  passage,  similar  to  that 

at  Cumae,  ,  .  ,  Naples  also  has  hot  springs  and  baths  not  at  all 

inferior  in  quality  to  those  at  Baiae,  but  much  less  frequented,  for 

another  city  has  arisen  there,  not  less  than  Dicaearchia,  one  palace 

after  another  having  been  built.   Naples  still  preserves  the  Grecian 

mode  of  life.  ... 

3.    SVBARIS  AND  CROTON 
Strabo^  VI,  i,  12-13 

But  Antiochus  relates  that  an  oracle  having  commanded  the 
Greeks  to  found  Crotona,  Myscellus  went  forth  to  view  the  place, 
and  having  seen  Sybaris  already  built  on  a  neighbouring  river  of 
the  same  name,  thought  it  better,  and  returned  to  the  god  to  ask 
if  he  might  be  permitted  to  settle  in  that,  instead  of  the  other ;  but 
that  the  oracle  answered,  applying  to  him  an  epithet  noticing  his 
defective  stature,    (for    Myscellus  was    somewhat   crook-backed,) 

"  O  short-backed  Myscellus,  whilst  seeking  somewhat  else  of  thyself, 
Thou  pursuest  only  misfortune :  it  is  right  to  accept  that  which 
is  proffered  to  thee  :  " 

and  that  he  returned  and  built  Crotona,  wherein  he  was  assisted  by 
Archias,  the  founder  of  Syracuse,  who  happened  to  touch  at  Cro- 
tona by  chance,  as  he  was  .proceeding  to  the  colony  of  the  Syra- 
cusans.  The  lapyges  possessed  Crotona  before  this  time,  as 
Ephorus  relates.  The  city  cultivated  martial  discipline  and  athletic 
exercises  to  a  great  extent,  and  in  one  of  the  Olympic  games  all 
the  seven  wrestlers,  who  obtained  the  palm  in  the  stadium,  were 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE  33 

Crotoniatae ;  .  .  ,  Its  celebrity  too  was  not  a  little  spread  by  the 
number  of  Pythagoreans  who  resided  there,  and  Milo,  who  was 
the  most  renowned  of  wrestlers,  and  lived  in  terms  of  intimacy 
with  Pythagoras,  who  abode  long  in  this  city.  .  .  , 

Beyond  this,  at  the  distance  of  200  stadia,  is  situated  Sybaris, 
a  colony  settled  by  the  Achaeans,  between  the  two  rivers  Crati  and 
Sybaris.  Its  founder  was  Is  .  .  .  the  Helicean.  So  great  was  the 
prosperity  enjoyed  by  this  city  anciently,  that  it  held  dominion  over 
four  neighbouring  people  and  twenty-five  towns  ;  in  the  war  with 
the  Crotoniatae  it  brought  into  the  field  300,000  men,  and  occu- 
pied a  circuit  of  50  stadia  on  the  Crati.  But  on  account  of  the 
arrogance  and  turbulence  of  its  citizens,  it  was  deprived  of  all  its 
prosperity  by  the  Crotoniatae  in  70  days,  who  took  the  city,  and 
turning  the  waters  of  the  river  (Crati),  overwhelmed  it  with  an 
inundation.  Some  time  after,  a  few  who  had  escaped  came  together 
and  inhabited  the  site  of  their  former  city,  but  in  time  they  were 
dispossessed  by  the  Athenians  and  other  Greeks,  who  came  and 
settled  amongst  them,  but  they  despised  and  subjugated  them,  and 
removed  the  city  to  a  neighbouring  place,  calling  its  name  Thurii, 
from  a  fountain  of  that  name. 

4.    MARSEILLES 
Strabo,  IV,  i,  4-5 

Marseilles,  founded  by  the  Phocaeans,  is  built  in  a  stony  region. 
Its  harbour  lies  beneath  a  rock,  which  is  shaped  like  a  theatre,  and 
looks  towards  the  south.  It  is  well  surrounded  with  walls,  as  well 
as  the  whole  city,  which  is  of  considerable  size.  Within  the  citadel 
are  placed  the  Ephesium  and  the  temple  of  the  Delphian  Apollo. 
This  latter  temple  is  common  to  all  the  lonians  ;  the  Ephesium 
is  the  temple  consecrated  to  Artemis  of  Ephesus.  They  say  that 
when  the  Phocaeans  were  about  to  quit  their  country,  an  oracle 
commanded  them  to  take  from  Artemis  of  Ephesus  a  conductor 
for  their  voyage.  On  arriving  at  Ephesus  they  therefore  inquired 
how  they  might  be  able  to  obtain  from  the  goddess  what  was  en- 
joined them.  The  goddess  appeared  in  a  dream  to  Aristarcha,  one 
of  the  most  honourable  women  of  the  city,  and  commanded  her  to 
accompany  the  Phocaeans,  and  to  take  with  her  a  plan  of  the  temple 


34  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

and  statues.  These  things  being  performed,  and  the  colony  "iDcing 
settled,  the  Phocaeans  built  a  temple,  and  evinced  their  great  re- 
spect for  Aristarcha  by  making  her  priestess.  All  the  colonies 
(sent  out  from  Marseilles)  hold  this  goddess  in  peculiar  reverence, 
preserving  both  the  shape  of  the  image  (of  the  goddess),  and  also 
every  rite  observed  in  the  metropolis. 

The  Massilians  live  under  a  well-regulated  aristocracy.  They 
have  a  council  composed  of  600  persons  called  timuchi,  who  enjoy 
this  dignity  for  life.  Fifteen  of  these  preside  over  the  council,  and 
have  the  management  of  current  affairs  ;  these  fifteen  are  in  their 
turn  presided  over  by  three  of  their  number,  in  whom  rests  the  prin- 
cipal authority  ;  and  these  again  by  one.  No  one  can  become  a  timu- 
chus  who  has  not  children,  and  who  has  not  been  a  citizen  for  three 
generations.  Their  laws,  which  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  lonians, 
they  expound  in  public.  Their  country  abounds  in  olives  and  vines, 
but  on  account  of  its  ruggedness  the  wheat  is  poor.  Consequently 
they  trust  more  to  the  resources  of  the  sea  than  of  the  land,  and  avail 
themselves  in  preference  of  their  excellent  position  for  commerce. 

5.    COLONIES   IN  SICILY 
T/ii/cydides,  VI,  3 

Of  the  Hellenes,  the  first  to  arrive  were  Chalcidians  from  Euboea 
with  Thucles,  their  founder.  They  founded  Naxos  and  built  the 
altar  to  Apollo  Archegetes,  which  now  stands  outside  the  town, 
and  upon  which  the  deputies  for  the  games  sacrifice  before  sailing 
from  Sicily.  Syracuse  was  founded  the  year  afterwards  by  Archias, 
one  of  the  Heraclids  from  Corinth,  who  began  by  driving  out  the 
Sicels  from  the  island  upon  which  the  inner  city  now  stands,  though 
it  is  no  longer  surrounded  by  water  :  in  process  of  time  the  outer 
town  also  was  taken  within  the  walls  and  became  populous.  Mean- 
while Thucles  and  the  Chalcidians  set  out  from  Naxos  in  the  fifth 
year  after  the  foundation  of  Syracuse,  and  drove  out  the  Sicels  by 
arms  and  founded  Leontini  and  afterwards  Catana ;  the  Catanians 
themselves  choosing  Evarchus  as  their  founder. 

About  the  same  time  Lamis  arrived  in  Sicily  with  a  colony  from 
Megara,  and  after  founding  a  place  called  Trotilus  beyond  the  river 
Pantacyas,  and  afterwards  leaving  it  and  for  a  short  while  joining 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE  35 

the  Chalcidians  at  Leontini,  was  driven  out  by  them  and  founded 
Thapsus.  After  his  death  his  companions  were  driven  out  of  Thap- 
sus,  and  founded  a  place  called  the  Hyblaean  Megara  ;  Hyblon,  a 
Sicel  king,  having  given  up  the  place  and  inviting  them  thither. 
Here  they  lived  two  hundred  and  forty-five  years  ;  after  which  they 
were  expelled  from  the  city  and  the  country  by  the  Syracusan  tyrant 
Gelo.  I^efore  their  expulsion,  however,  a  hundred  years  after  they 
had  settled  there,  they  sent  out  Pamillus  and  founded  Selinus  ;  he 
having  come  from  their  mother  country  Megara  to  join  them  in  its 
foundation.  Gela  was  founded  by  Antiphemus  from  Rhodes  and 
Entimus  from  Crete,  who  joined  in  leading  a  colony  thither,  in  the 
forty-fifth  year  after  the  foundation  of  Syracuse.  The  town  took 
its  name  from  the  river  Gelas,  the  place  where  the  citadel  now 
stands,  and  which  was  first  fortified,  being  called  Lindii.  The 
institutions  which  they  adopted  were  Dorian.  Near  one  hundred 
and  eight  years  after  the  foundation  of  Gela,  the  Geloans  founded 
Acragas  (Agrigentum),  so  called  from  the  river  of  that  name,  and 
made  Aristonous  and  Pystilus  their  founders  ;  giving  their  own 
institutions  to  the  colony.  Zancle  was  originally  founded  by  pirates 
from  Cuma,  the  Chalcidian  town  in  the  country  of  the  Opicans  : 
afterwards,  however,  large  numbers  came  from  Chalcis  and  the 
rest  of  Euboea,  and  helped  to  people  the  place  ;  the  founders  being 
Perieres  and  Cratasmenes  from  Cuma  and  Chalcis  respectively. 
It  first  had  the  name  of  Zancle  given  it  by  the  Sicels,  because  the 
place  is  shaped  like  a  sickle,  which  the  Sicels  call  Zanclon  ;  but 
upon  the  original  settlers  being  afterwards  expelled  by  some  Samians 
and  other  lonians  who  landed  in  Sicily  flying  from  the  Medes,  and 
the  Samians  in  their  turn  not  long  afterwards  by  Anaxilas,  tyrant 
of  Rhegium,  the  town  was  by  him  colonised  with  a  mixed  popula- 
tion, and  its  name  changed  to  Messina,  after  his  old  country. 

Himera  was  founded  from  Zancle  by  Euclides,  Simus,  and 
Sacon,  most  of  those  who  went  to  the  colony  being  Chalcidians ; 
though  they  were  joined  by  some  exiles  from  Syracuse,  defeated 
in  a  civil  war,  called  the  Myletidae.  The  language  was  a  mixture 
of  Chalcidian  and  Doric,  but  the  institutions  which  prevailed  were 
the  Chalcidian.  Acrae  and  Casmenae  were  founded  by  the  Syra- 
cusans;  Acrae  seventy  years  after  Syracuse,  Casmenae  nearly  twenty 


36  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

after  Acrae.  Camarina  was  first  founded  by  the  Syracusans,  close 
upon  a  hundred  and  thirty-five  years  after  the  building  of  Syracuse  ; 
its  founders  being  Daxon  and  Menecolus.  But  the  Camarinaeans 
being  expelled  by  arms  by  the  Syracusans  for  having  revolted,  Hip- 
pocrates, tyrant  of  Gela,  some  time  later  receiving  their  land  in 
ransom  for  some  Syracusan  prisoners,  resettled  Camarina,  himself 
acting  as  its  founder.  Lastly,  it  was  again  depopulated  by  Gelo, 
and  settled  once  more  for  the  third  time  by  the  Geloans. 


III.    The  Importance  of  Corinth 

The  natural  advantages  of  the  situation  of  Corinth  lead  one 
to  believe  that  it  must  have  been  an  important  place  in  very  early 
times  though  little  of  great  antiquity  has  as  yet  been  found  there. 

Excavations  have  been  carried  on  for  several  years  by  the 
American  School  at  Athens,  and  much  belonging  to  the  Greek 
and  Roman  periods  has  been  uncovered.  (See  American  Journal 
of  ArcJueology,    1897  ff.) 

Strabo,  VIII,  vi,  20 

Corinth  is  said  to  be  opulent  from  its  mart.  It  is  situated  upon 
the  isthmus.  It  commands  two  harbours,  one  near  Asia,  the  other 
near  Italy,  and  facilitates,  by  reason  of  so  short  a  distance  between 
them,  an  exchange  of  commodities  on  each  side. 

As  the  Sicilian  strait,  so  formerly  these  seas  were  of  difficult 
navigation,  and  particularly  the  sea  above  Maleae,  on  account  of  the 
prevalence  of  contrary  winds  ;  whence  the  common  proverb, 

When  you  double  Maleae  forget  your  home. 

It  was  a  desirable  thing  for  the  merchants  coming  from  Asia,  and 
from  Italy,  to  discharge  their  lading  at  Corinth  without  being 
obliged  to  double  Cape  Maleae.  For  goods  exported  from  Pelopon- 
nesus, or  imported  by  land,  a  toll  was  paid  to  those  who  had  the 
keys  of  the  country.  This  continued  afterwards  for  ever.  In  after- 
times  they  enjoyed  even  additional  advantages,  for  the  Isthmian 
games,  which  were  celebrated  there,  brought  thither  great  multitudes 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE  37 

of  people.  The  Bacchiadas/  a  rich  and  numerous  family,  and 
of  illustrious  descent,  were  their  rulers,  governed  the  state  for 
nearly  two  hundred  years,  and  peaceably  enjoyed  the  profits  of  the 
mart.  Their  power  was  destroyed  by  Cypselus,  who  became  king 
himself,  and  his  descendants  continued  to  exist  for  three  genera- 
tions. A  proof  of  the  wealth  of  this  family  is  the  offering  which 
Cypselus  dedicated  at  Olympia,  a  statue  of  Zeus  of  beaten  gold. 

Demaratus,^  one  of  those  who  had  been  tyrant  at  Corinth,  flying 
from  the  seditions  which  prevailed  there,  carried  with  him  from  his 
home  to  Tyrrhenia  so  much  wealth,  that  he  became  sovereign  of  the 
city  which  had  received  him,  and  his  son  became  even  king  of  the 
Romans. 

IV.  The  Colonies  in  North  Africa 

1.  NAUCRATIS 
The  extent,  wealth,  and  Greek  influence  in  the  city  have  been 
well  shown  by  excavations  carried  on  by  the  Egypt  Exploration 
Fund.^  That  Egypt  was  to  a  certain  extent  opened  up  to  the 
Greeks  is  seen  by  the  inscription  from  Abusimbel  in  Nubia  which 
was  scratched  by  soldier-tourists  on  the  legs  of  a  statue  still  in  situ. 

Herodotus,  II,  178-179 

Amasis  was  partial  to  the  Greeks,  and,  among  other  favours 
which  he  granted  them,  gave  to  such  as  liked  to  settle  in  Egypt 
the  city  of  Naucratis  for  their  residence.  To  those  who  only  wished 
to  trade  upon  the  coast,  and  did  not  want  to  fix  their  abode  in  the 
country,  he  granted  certain  lands  where  they  might  set  up  altars 
and  erect  temples  to  the  gods.  Of  these  temples  the  grandest  and 
most  famous,  which  is  also  the  most  frequented,  is  that  called  "  the 
Hellenium."  It  was  built  conjointly  by  the  lonians,  Dorians,  and 
Cohans,  the  following  cities  taking  part  in  the  work  :  —  the  Ionian 
states  of  Chios,  Teos,  Phocaea,  and  Clazomenae  ;  Rhodes,  Cnidus, 
Halicarnassus,  and  Phaselis  of  the  Dorians  ;  and  Mytilene  of  the 
yEolians.    These  are  the  states  to  whom  the  temple  belongs,  and 

1  On  the  Bacchiadse  and  Cypselus  see  below,  pp.  76-79. 

2  On  Demaratus  see  Pliny,  "  Natural  History,"  XXXV,  152. 

3  See  "  Egypt  Exploration  Fund,"  Parts  I-II. 


38  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

they  have  the  right  of  appointing  the  governors  of  the  factory  ;  the 
other  cities  which  claim  a  share  in  the  building,  claim  what  in  no 
sense  belongs  to  them.  Three  nations,  however,  consecrated  for 
themselves  separate  temples  —  the  Eginetans  one  to  Zeus,  the 
Samians  to  Hera,  and  the  Milesians  to  Apollo. 

In  ancient  times  there  was  no  factory  but  Naucratis  in  the  whole 
of  Egypt ;  and  if  a  person  entered  one  of  the  other  mouths  of  the 
Nile,  he  was  obliged  to  swear  that  he  had  not  come  there  of  his 
own  free  will.  Having  so  done,  he  was  bound  to  sail  in  his  ship 
to  the  Canobic  mouth,  or,  were  that  impossible  owing  to  contrary 
winds,  he  must  take  his  wares  by  boat  all  round  the  Delta,  and  so 
bring  them  to  Naucratis,  which  had  an  exclusive  privilege. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  3 

PSAMMETICHUS    II    AND    HIS    GREEK    MERCENARIES,    B.C.    594-589 

When  King  Psammetichus  went  to  Elephantine,  those  who  sailed 
with  Psammetichus  the  son  of  Theocles  wrote  this,  and  they  went 
above  Kerti  as  far  as  the  river  let  them  go  up,  and  Potasimto  led 
the  men  of  other  languages  (i.e.  Ionian  and  Carian  mercenaries), 
and  Amasis  the  Egyptians. 

Archon  the  son  of  Amoebichus  and  Pelecus  son  of  Oudamus 
wrote  me. 

Elasibys  {!)  from  Teos 

Telephus  of  lalysus  wrote  me 

Python  son  of  Amoebichus 

Pabis  from  Colophon  ,  .  .  with  Psammetichus 

Hagesermus 

Pasiphon  son  of  Hippus 

Crithis  wrote 

When  the  king  led  the  first  army  .  .  .  came  with  Psammetichus 

2.    LIBYAN  COLONIES 

Herodotus,  IV,  150-153,  tells  the  circumstances  which  led  to 
the  foundation  of  colonies  in  Libya. 

Cyrene  became  very  prosperous,  due  partly  to  the  export  of 
the  silphium  plant  of  which  it  seems  to  have  had  a  monopoly. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE  39 

A  famous  representation  —  the  Arcesilas  vase  —  shows  the  weigh- 
ing of  silphium  in  the  presence  of  the  king  who  is  surrounded  by 
his  slaves.^ 

Pindar  in  one  of  his  most  splendid  odes  celebrates  the  house  of 
the  king  of  Cyrene,  one  of  whom,  Arcesilas  by  name,  had  won  a 
victory  in  the  chariot  race  at  Delphi. 

Herodotus,  IV,  156-159 

After  a  while,  everything  began  to  go  wrong  both  with  Battus 
and  with  the  rest  of  the  Theraeans,  whereupon  these  last,  ignorant 
of  the  cause  of  their  sufferings,  sent  to  Delphi  to  inquire  for  what 
reason  they  were  afflicted.  The  Pythoness  in  reply  told  them,  "that 
if  they  and  Battus  would  make  a  settlement  at  Cyrene  in  Libya, 
things  w^ould  go  better  with  them."  Upon  this  the  Theraeans  sent 
out  Battus  with  two  penteconters,  and  with  these  he  proceeded  to 
Libya,  but  within  a  little  time,  not  knowing  what  else  to  do,  the 
men  returned  and  arrived  off  Thera.  The  Theraeans,  when  they 
saw  the  vessels  approaching,  received  them  with  showers  of  mis- 
siles, would  not  allow  them  to  come  near  the  shore,  and  ordered 
the  men  to  sail  back  from  whence  they  came.  Thus  compelled  to 
return,  they  settled  on  an  island  near  the  Libyan  coast,  which 
(as  I  have  already  said)  was  called  Platea.  In  size  it  is  reported 
to  have  been  about  equal  to  the  city  of  Cyrene,  as  it  now  stands. 

In  this  place  they  continued  two  years,  but  at  the  end  of  that 
time,  as  their  ill  luck  still  followed  them,  they  left  the  island  to 
the  care  of  one  of  their  number,  and  went  in  a  body  to  Delphi, 
where  they  made  complaint  at  the  shrine,  to  the  effect  that,  not- 
withstanding they  had  colonised  Libya,  they  prospered  as  poorly  as 
before.   Hereon  the  Pythoness  made  them  the  following  answer :  — 

"  Knowest  thou  better  than  I,  fair  Libya  abounding  in  fleeces? 
Better  the  stranger  than  he  who  has  trod  it  ?    Oh  !  clever  Theraeans !  " 

Battus  and  his  friends,  when  they  heard  this,  sailed  back  to  Platea : 
it  was  plain  the  god  would  not  hold  them  acquitted  of  the  colony 
till  they  were  absolutely  in  Libya.    So,  taking  with  them  the  man 

1  See  Bury,  "  History  of  Greece,"  Fig.  46. 


40  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

whom  they  had  left  upon  the  island,  they  made  a  settlement  on 
the  mainland  directly  opposite  Platea,  fixing  themselves  at  a  place 
called  Aziris,  which  is  closed  in  on  both  sides  by  the  most  beauti- 
ful hills,  and  on  one  side  is  washed  by  a  river. 

Here  they  remained  six  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  Lib- 
yans induced  them  to  move,  promising  that  they  would  lead  them 
to  a  better  situation.  So  the  Greeks  left  Aziris  and  were  conducted 
by  the  Libyans  towards  the  west,  their  journey  being  so  arranged, 
by  the  calculation  of  their  guides,  that  they  passed  in  the  night  the 
most  beautiful  district  of  that  whole  country,  which  is  the  region 
called  Irasa.  The  Libyans  brought  them  to  a  spring,  which  goes 
by  the  name  of  Apollo's  fountain,  and  told  them  —  "  Here,  Gre- 
cians, is  the  proper  place  for  you  to  settle  ;  for  here  the  sky  leaks." 

During  the  lifetime  of  Battus,  the  founder  of  the  colony,  who 
reigned  forty  years,  and  during  that  of  his  son  Arcesilaus,  who 
reigned  sixteen,  the  Cyrena^ans  continued  at  the  same  level,  neither 
more  nor  fewer  in  number  than  they  were  at  the  first.  But  in  the 
reign  of  the  third  king,  Battus,  surnamed  the  Happy,  the  advice 
of  the  Pythoness  brought  Greeks  from  every  quarter  into  Libya,  to 
join  the  settlement.  The  Cyrenaeans  had  offered  to  all  comers  a 
share  in  their  lands  ;  and  the  oracle  had  spoken  as  follows  :  — 

"  He  that  is  backward  to  share  in  the  pleasant  Libyan  acres, 
Sooner  or  later,  I  warn  him,  will  feel  regret  at  his  folly." 

PrNDAR,  Pyth.^  IV,  I- 1 2 

This  day  O  Muse  must  thou  tarry  in  a  friend's  house,  the  house 
of  the  king  of  Kyrene  of  goodly  horses,  that  with  Arkesilas  at  his 
triumph  thou  mayst  swell  the  favourable  gale  of  song,  the  due  of 
Leto's  children,  and  of  Pytho,  For  at  Pytho  of  old  she  who  sitteth 
beside  the  eagles  of  Zeus  —  nor  was  Apollo  absent  then  —  the 
priestess,  spake  this  oracle,  that  Battos  should  found  a  power  in 
fruitful  Libya,  that  straightway  departing  from  the  holy  isle  he 
might  lay  the  foundations  of  a  city  of  goodly  chariots  upon  a  white 
breast  of  the  swelling  earth,  and  might  fulfil  in  the  seventeenth 
generation  the  word  of  Medea  spoken  at  Thera,  which  of  old  the 
passionate  child  of  Aietes,  queen  of  Colchians,  breathed  from 
immortal  lips. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE  41 

Pindar,  Pyth.,  IV,  59-67 

Thee,  happy  son  of  Polymnestos,  did  the  oracle  of  the  Delphian 
bee  approve  with  call  unasked  to  be  the  man  whereof  the  word 
was  spoken,  for  thrice  she  bid  thee  hail  and  declared  thee  by  de- 
cree of  fate  Kyrene's  king,  what  time  thou  enquiredst  what  help 
should  be  from  heaven  for  thy  labouring  speech.  And  verily  even 
now  long  afterward,  as  in  the  bloom  of  rosy-blossomed  spring,  in 
the  eighth  descent  from  Battos  the  leaf  of  Arkesilas  is  green. 


V.    Founding  a  Colony,  and  its  Relation  to  the 

MoTllEK-ClTY 

There  were  few  matters  about  which  the  Greeks  were  more 
particular  than  in  establishing  relations  between  a  colony  and  its 
mother-city.  Often  when  the  former  grew  more  powerful,  their 
interests  clashed  and  the  exact  status  towards  each  other  was  a 
matter  of  dispute,  though  legally  the  colony  was  quite  independent. 
One  of  the  most  striking  illustrations  of  the  international  reputation 
of  the  oracles  is  the  fact  that  so  many  offerings  were  dedicated  by 
foreign  rulers.    (See  also  Chapter  III.) 

Thiicydides,  I,  24-25,  34 

The  city  of  Epidamnus  stands  on  the  right  of  the  entrance  of 
the  Ionic  gulf.  Its  vicinity  is  inhabited  by  the  Taulantians,  an 
Illyrian  people.  The  place  is  a  colony  from  Corcyra,  founded  by 
Phallus,  son  of  Eratocleides,  of  the  family  of  the  Heraclids,  who 
had  according  to  ancient  usage  been  summoned  for  the  purpose 
from  Corinth,  the  mother  country.  The  colonists  were  joined  by 
some  Corinthians,  and  others  of  the  Dorian  race.  Now,  as  time 
went  on,  the  city  of  Epidamnus  became  great  and  populous  ;  but 
falling  a  prey  to  factions  arising,  it  is  said,  from  a  war  with  her 
neighbours  the  barbarians,  she  became  much  enfeebled,  and  lost 
a  considerable  amount  of  her  power.  The  last  act  before  the  war 
was  the  expulsion  of  the  nobles  by  the  people.  The  exiled  party 
joined  the  barbarians,  and  proceeded  to  plunder  those  in  the  city 
by  sea  and  land  ;  and  the  Epidamnians  finding  themselves  hard 


42  READINGS   IN  GREKK  HISTORY 

pressed,  sent  ambassadors  to  Corcyra  beseeching  their  mother  coun- 
try not  to  allow  them  to  perish,  but  to  make  up  matters  between 
them  and  the  exiles,  and  to  rid  them  of  the  war  with  the  barbarians. 
The  ambassadors  seated  themselves  in  the  temple  of  Hera  as  sup- 
pliants, and  made  the  above  requests  to  the  Corcyraeans.  But  the 
Corcyraeans  refused  to  accept  their  supplication,  and  they  were  dis- 
missed without  having  effected  anything. 

When  the  Epidamnians  found  that  no  help  could  be  expected 
from  Corcyra,  they  were  in  a  strait  what  to  do  next.  So  they  sent 
to  Delphi  and  inquired  of  the  god,  whether  they  should  deliver 
their  city  to  the  Corinthians,  and  endeavour  to  obtain  some  assist- 
ance from  their  founders.  The  answer  he  gave  them  was  to  de- 
liver the  city,  and  place  themselves  under  Corinthian  protection. 
So  the  Epidamnians  went  to  Corinth,  and  delivered  over  the  colony 
in  obedience  to  the  commands  of  the  oracle.  They  showed  that 
their  founder  came  from  Corinth,  and  revealed  the  answer  of  the 
god  ;  and  they  begged  them  not  to  allow  them  to  perish,  but  to 
assist  them.  This  the  Corinthians  consented  to  do.  Believing  the 
colony  to  belong  as  much  to  themselves  as  to  the  Corcyraeans,  they 
felt  it  to  be  a  kind  of  duty  to  undertake  their  protection.  Besides, 
they  hated  the  Corcyraeans  for  their  contempt  of  the  mother  coun- 
try. Instead  of  meeting  with  the  usual  honours  accorded  to  the 
parent  city  by  every  other  colony  at  public  assemblies,  such  as  pre- 
cedence at  sacrifices,  Corinth  found  herself  treated  with  contempt 
by  a  power,  which  in  point  of  wealth  could  stand  comparison  with 
any  even  of  the  richest  communities  in  Hellas,  which  possessed 
great  military  strength,  and  which  sometimes  could  not  repress  a 
pride  in  the  high  naval  position  of  an  island  whose  nautical  renown 
dated  from  the  days  of  its  old  inhabitants,  the  Phasacians.  This  was 
one  reason  of  the  care  that  they  lavished  on  their  fleet,  which  be- 
came very  efficient ;  indeed  they  began  the  war  with  a  force  of  a 
hundred  and  twenty  galleys.   .   .   . 

'"  If  she  asserts  that  for  you  to  receive  a  colony  of  hers  into  alliance 
is  not  right,  let  her  know  that  every  colony  that  is  well  treated  honours 
its  parent  state,  but  becomes  estranged  from  it  by  injustice.  For  colo- 
nists are  not  sent  forth  on  the  understanding  that  they  are  to  be  the 
slaves  of  those  that  remain  behind,  but  that  they  are  to  be  their  equals." 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE  43 

VI.    Gyges  and  Colophon;  Asia  Minor 

There  is  an  interesting  terra-cotta  sarcophagus  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury in  the  British  Museum  on  which  is  painted  an  invasion  of 
the  Cimmerians. 1  Gyges  asked  for  help  against  them  from  As- 
syria. An  inscription  of  Assurbanipal,  their  king,  is  quoted  in 
Bury,   "  History  of  Greece,"  p.  857. 

Herodotus^  I,  14 

When  Gyges  was  estabhshed  on  the  throne,  he  sent  no  small 
presents  to  Delphi,  as  his  many  silver  offerings  at  the  Delphic 
shrine  testify.  Besides  this  silver  he  gave  a  vast  number  of  vessels 
of  gold,  among  which  the  most  worthy  of  mention  are  the  goblets, 
six  in  number,  and  weighing  altogether  thirty  talents,  which  stand 
in  the  Corinthian  treasury,  dedicated  by  him.  I  call  it  the  Co- 
rinthian treasury,  though  in  strictness  of  speech  it  is  the  treasury 
not  of  the  whole  Corinthian  people,  but  of  Cypselus,  son  of  Action. 
Excepting  Midas,  son  of  Gordias,  king  of  Phr}'gia,  Gyges  was  the 
first  of  the  barbarians  whom  we  know  to  have  sent  offerings  to 
Delphi.  Midas  dedicated  the  royal  throne  whereon  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  sit  and  administer  justice,  an  object  well  worth  looking 
at.  It  lies  in  the  same  place  as  the  goblets  presented  by  Gyges. 
The  Delphians  call  the  whole  of  the  silver  and  the  gold  which 
Gyges  dedicated,  after  the  name  of  the  donor,  Gygian. 

As  soon  as  Gyges  was  king  he  made  an  inroad  on  Miletus  and 
Smyrna,  and  took  the  city  of  Colophon.  Afterwards,  however, 
though  he  reigned  eight  and  thirty  years,  he  did  not  perform  a 
single  noble  exploit.  I  shall  therefore  make  no  further  mention  of 
him,  but  pass  on  to  his  son  and  successor  in  the  kingdom,  Ardys. 

Strabo,  XIV,  i,  4 

The  Smyrnasans,  upon  quitting  the  Ephesians,  marched  to  the 
place  where  Smyrna  now  stood,  and  which  was  in  the  possession 
of  Leleges.  They  expelled  these  people  and  founded  the  ancient 
Smyrna,  which  is  distant  from  the  present  city  about  20  stadia. 
They  were  themselves  afterwards  expelled  by  yEolians,  and  took 

1  See  Bury,  "  History  of  Greece,"  Fig.  42. 


44  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

refuge  at  Colophon  ;  they  then  returned  with  a  body  of  men  from 
the  latter  place,  and  recovered  their  own  city,  Smyrna.  Mimner- 
mus  relates  this  in  his  poem  of  Nanno,  and  says  of  Smyrna,  that 
it  was  always  a  subject  of  contention;  ""after  leaving  Pylus,  the 
lofty  city  of  Neleus,  we  came  in  our  voyage  to  the  long  wished-for 
Asia,  and  settled  at  Colophon,  and  hastening  thence  from  the  river 
Asteeis,  by  the  will  of  the  gods  we  took  /Eolian  Smyrna," 

Calliniis,  Frag,  i 

How  long  will  ye  lie  supine?  When,  young  men,  will  ye  have 
stout  courage?  Have  ye  no  shame  before  your  neighbors  that  ye 
give  way  so  utterly  ?  Ye  think  that  ye  are  sitting  in  the  midst  of 
peace,  but  war  fills  the  land  throughout  its  borders.  Let  every  man, 
even  in  the  pang  of  death,  hurl  his  spear  in  a  last  effort. 

It  is  an  honor  and  a  glory  for  a  man  to  fight  for  his  country  and 
his  children,  and  the  wife  he  has  wedded,  against  his  country's  foes. 
Death  will  come  at  that  time  which  the  fates  shall  allot,  but  let 
each  man  go  forward,  —  brandishing  his  spear,  and  with  a  brave 
heart  under  his  shield,  when  the  tumult  of  battle  begins. 

For  man  cannot  escape  his  destined  death,  no,  not  even  if  he 
be  child  of  immortals.  Often,  having  escaped  from  the  press  of 
battle  and  the  thud  of  spears,  he  returns  and  the  fate  of  death 
overtakes  him  in  his  house.  The  coward  has  not  the  love  of  his 
people,  nor  do  they  mourn  for  him,  but  humble  men  and  those  of 
high  estate  lament  the  brave  man  if  he  suffer  aught. 

For  the  whole  people  grieve  when  a  brave-hearted  man  is  dying, 
and  during  his  life  he  is  deemed  a  demi-god.  For  they  see  him 
like  a  tower  of  strength  before  their  eyes ;  though  only  one,  he  does 
the  deeds  of  many. 

Herodotus,  I,  15 

Ardys  took  Priene  and  made  war  upon  Miletus.  In  his  reign 
the  Cimmerians,  driven  from  their  homes  by  the  nomades  of 
Scythia,   entered  Asia  and  captured  Sardis,  all  but  the  citadel. 

Call  in  lis,  Frag.  3 

Now  the  army  of  the  doughty  Cimmerians  advances. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE  45 

The  elegiac  poets  encouraged  their  countr)'men  to  brave  deeds 
and  shared  in  them  as  well.  Of  Callinus  we  know  little,  but 
Archilochus  is  an  early  instance  of  a  soldier  of  fortune  who  had 
seen  many  men  and  many  cities. 

This  eclipse  of  the  sun  is  the  first  date  in  Greek  history 
described  in  a  contemporary  document  (April  6,  i?.c.  648). 

Archilochus,  Frags. 

"  I  am  a  servant  of  the  lord  god  of  war,  and  I  know  the  lovely 
gift  of  the  Muses."  ^  Murray. 

"  In  my  spear  is  kneaded  bread,  in  my  spear  is  wine  of  Ismarus, 
and  I  lie  upon  my  spear  as  I  drink."  —  Murray. 

"  A  wretched  island,  bare  and  rough  as  a  hog's  back  in  the 
sea."  —  Murray. 

"All  the  miser\'  of  the  Greeks  met  together  at  Thasos."  — 
Wright. 

"  Some  Thracian  strutteth  with  my  shield, 
For  being  somewhat  flurried, 
I  left  it  in  a  wayside  bush 
When  from  the  field  I  hurried  ; 
A  right  good  targe,  but  I  got  off, 
The  deuce  may  take  the  shield  ; 
I  '11  get  another  just  as  good 
When  next  I  go  afield."  —  Siiorey. 

I  care  not  for  the  wealth  of  golden  Gyges,  I  never  yet  felt  envy, 
nor  am  I  jealous  of  the  deeds  of  the  divine  ones,  nor  do  I  covet 
mighty  power.    These  things  are  far  from  my  eyes. 

The  bow  will  not  be  bent,  nor  will  the  sling-stones  fly  thick 
when  Ares  joins  the  war-tug  in  the  plain,  but  the  sword  shall 
strike  mid  many  a  groan.  In  this  fighting  are  they  skilled  —  the 
lords  of  Euboea,  famous  for  the  spear. 

Nothing  is  unexpected  or  impossible  or  wonderful,  since  Zeus, 
father  of  Olympians,  hid  away  the  light  of  the  shining  sun  and 
made  night  out  of  noonday,  and  pale  fear  came  upon  men. 

Henceforth  everything  becomes  credible  and  to  be  expected 
by  man,  and  let  no  one  of  you  wonder  as  he  beholds,  not  even  if 


46  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

beasts  exchange  with  dolphins  the  Hfc  in  the  deep,  and  the  echo- 
ing waves  of  the  sea  become  dearer  than  the  shore  to  those 
who  loved  the  mountains. 

VII.    Trade  and  Travel;   Naval  Power 

Another  indication  of  the  expansion  of  Hellas  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  development  of  trade  and  travel  and  the  origin  and  growth  of 
navies.  Corinth  seems  to  have  taken  the  lead  in  this  and  began 
at  an  early  date  to  come  into  conflict  with  her  colony  Corcyra. 

Arniadas  of  the  following  inscription  doubtless  fell  in  some  such 
struggle. 

Thiicydidcs,  I,  13 

But  as  the  power  of  Hellas  grew,  and  the  acquisition  of  wealth 
became  more  an  object,  the  revenues  of  the  states  increasing, 
tyrannies  were  by  their  means  established  almost  everywhere,  — 
the  old  form  of  government  being  hereditary  monarchy  with  defi- 
nite prerogatives, — and  Hellas  began  to  fit  out  fleets  and  apply 
herself  more  closely  to  the  sea.  It  is  said  that  the  Corinthians 
were  the  first  to  approach  the  modern  style  of  naval  architecture, 
and  that  Corinth  was  the  first  place  in  Hellas  where  galleys  were 
built ;  and  we  have  Ameinocles,  a  Corinthian  shipvvright,  making 
four  ships  for  the  Samians.  Dating  from  the  end  of  this  war,  it 
is  nearly  three  hundred  years  ago  that  Ameinocles  went  to  Samos. 
Again,  the  earliest  sea-fight  in  history  was  between  the  Corinthians 
and  Corcyraeans  ;  this  was  about  two  hundred  and  sixty  years  ago, 
dating  from  the  same  time.  Planted  on  an  isthmus,  Corinth  had 
from  time  out  of  mind  been  a  commercial  emporium  ;  as  formerly 
almost  all  communication  between  the  Hellenes  within  and  without 
Peloponnese  was  carried  on  overland,  and  the  Corinthian  territory 
was  the  highway  through  which  it  travelled.  She  had  consequently 
great  money  resources,  as  is  shown  by  the  epithet  "wealthy"  be- 
stowed by  the  old  poets  on  the  place,  and  this  enabled  her,  when 
traffic  by  sea  became  more  common,  to  procure  her  navy  and  put  down 
piracy  ;  and  as  she  could  offer  a  mart  for  both  branches  of  the  trade, 
she  acquired  for  herself  all  the  power  which  a  large  revenue  affords. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE  47 

Hicks  and  HiH,  2 

This  is  the  monument  of  Arniadas,  whom  cruel  Ares  destroyed 
as  he  was  fighting  by  the  ships  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arachthos,  by 
far  the  best  in  bravery. 

Among  the  best  sources  for  this  time  are  the  coins  now  coming 
into  general  use.  (See  Hill,  "  Historical  Greek  Coins.")  They,  as 
well  as  pottery  and  other  wares,  are  of  the  greatest  value  in  indi- 
cating trade  routes  and  the  development  of  commerce,  but  a  careful 
study  of  them  would  take  the  reader  too  far  afield. 

Vni.    The  Farmer's  Life 

As  a  contrast  to  stirring  deeds  of  adventure  and  discovery  we 
have  Hesiod's  "Works  and  Days,"  a  didactic  poem  which  com- 
bines moral  advice  with  practical  hints  for  the  farmer.  As  Bury 
says,  he  is  "  the  first  spokesman  of  the  common  folk." 

This  poem,  which  was  addressed  to  the  poet's  brother  Perses, 
served  as  a  model  for  Vergil's  "  Georgics." 

Hesiod,  Works  and  Days,  298-316 

Do  thou  then,  ever  mindful  of  my  precept,  work  on,  Perses,  of 
stock  divine,  that  so  famine  may  hate,  and  fair-chapleted  Demeter 
love  thee,  august  as  she  is,  and  fill  thy  garner  with  substance.  For 
famine,  look  you,  is  ever  the  sluggard's  companion. 

And  with  him  gods  and  men  are  indignant,  who  lives  a  sluggard's 
life,  like  in  temper  to  stingless  drones,  which  lazily  consume  the 
labour  of  bees,  by  devouring  it :  but  to  thee  let  it  be  a  pleasure  to  set 
in  order  seemly  works,  that  so  thy  garners  may  be  full  of  seasonable 
substance.  From  works  men  become  both  rich  in  flocks  and  wealthy : 
by  working  too,  thou  wilt  be  dearer  far  to  immortals  and  to  mortals. 
For  greatly  do  they  hate  sluggards.  Now  work  is  no  disgrace,  but 
sloth  is  a  disgrace.  And  if  thou  shouldst  work,  quickly  will  the  slug- 
gard envy  thee  growing  rich ;  for  esteem  and  glor}-  accompany  wealth. 
So  to  a  sensible  man,  such  as  thou  wert,  to  labour  is  best,  if  hav- 
ing turned  a  witless  mind  from  the  possessions  of  others  towards 
work,  thou  wouldst  study  thy  subsistence,  as  I  recommend  thee. 


48  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Hesiod,  IVorks  and  Days,  383-395 

When  the  Pleiads,  born  of  Atlas,  rise,  begin  thy  harvest ;  but 
thy  ploughing,  when  they  set.  Now  these,  look  you,  are  hidden  for 
forty  nights  and  days  ;  and  again  in  revolving  years  they  appear 
when  first  the  sickle  is  sharpened.  This  truly  is  the  law  of  fields, 
as  well  for  them  who  dwell  near  the  sea,  as  for  those  who  inhabit 
wooded  valleys,  a  fertile  soil  afar  from  the  swelling  sea  :  sow  stript, 
plough  stript,  and  reap  stript,  if  thou  shouldst  wish  to  gather  the 
works  of  Demeter,  all  in  their  seasons,  that  so  each  may  grow  for  thee 
in  due  time,  lest  in  anywise,  being  in  need  meanwhile,  thou  shouldst 
go  begging  to  other  people's  houses,  and  accomplish  nothing. 

Hesiuij,  IVorks  and  Days,  448-463 

Mark,  too,  when  from  on  high  out  of  the  clouds  you  shall  have 
heard  the  voice  of  the  crane  uttering  its  yearly  cry,  which  both 
brings  the  signal  for  ploughing,  and  points  the  season  of  rainy 
winter,  but  gnaws  the  heart  of  the  man  that  hath  no  oxen  :  then 
truly  feed  the  crumpled-horned  oxen  remaining  within  their  stalls  : 
for  it  is  easy  to  say  the  word,  "  Lend  me  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  a 
wain  "  ;  but  easy  is  it  to  refuse,  saying,  "  There  is  work  for  my 
oxen."  Then  thinks  the  man,  rich  in  his  own  conceit,  to  build  a 
wain,  fool  as  he  is,  nor  knows  he  this,  "  but  there  are  also  a  hun- 
dred planks  to  a  waggon,"  for  which  it  is  meet  first  to  take  thought, 
to  get  them  without  the  house. 

But  when  first  the  season  of  ploughing  has  appeared  to  mortals, 
even  then  rouse  thyself,  thy  serv-ants  alike  and  thyself,  ploughing 
during  the  season  of  ploughing,  whether  dry  or  wet,  hasting  very 
early,  that  so  thy  corn-lands  may  be  full.  In  spring  turn  up  the 
soil ;  and  the  ground  tilled  afresh  in  summer  will  not  mock  thy 
hopes  :  and  sow  thy  fallow-land  while  yet  light. 

Hesiod,  Works  and  Days,  493-503 

But  duly  observe  all  things  in  your  mind,  nor  let  either  the 
spring  becoming  white  with  blossoms,  or  the  showers  returning 
at  set  seasons,  escape  your  notice.  But  pass  by  the  seat  at  the 
brazier's  forge,  and  the  warm  lodging-house  in  the  winter  season, 
when  cold  keeps  men  from  toils  ;  at  which  time  an  active  man 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  GREECE  49 

would  greatly  improve  his  household  matters  ;  lest  the  hardship  of 
baneful  winter  along  with  poverty  catch  thee,  and  with  lean  hand 
thou  press  a  swollen  foot.  But  many  ill  designs  hath  the  idler, 
waiting  for  a  vain  hope,  and  in  need  of  subsistence,  spoken  in  his 
spirit.  And  't  is  no  good  hope  that  sustains  a  needy  man,  sitting 
at  a  lodging-house,  and  who  hath  not  means  of  life  sufficient.  Point 
out,  then,  to  thy  servants,  when  it  is  still  mid-summer,  "It  will  not 
be  summer  alway  :  make  you  cabins." 

Hesiod,  Works  and  Days^  641-653 

But  thou,  Perses,  be  thou  mindful  of  all  works  in  their  seasons, 
and  most  of  all  about  navigation.  Commend  a  small  vessel :  in  a 
large  one  stow  thy  freight.  Greater  will  be  thy  cargo,  and  greater 
thy  gain  upon  gain,  that  is  to  say,  if  the  winds  keep  off  evil  blasts. 
When  thou  shalt  have  turned  thy  silly  mind  towards  merchandise, 
and  desired  to  escape  debts  and  unpleasant  hunger,  then  will  I 
show  thee  the  courses  of  the  loud-roaring  sea,  though  neither  at 
all  clever  in  navigation,  nor  in  ships.  For  never  yet  have  I  sailed 
in  ship,  at  least  across  the  broad  deep,  save  to  Euboea  from  Aulis, 
where  formerly  the  Greeks,  having  waited  through  the  winter, 
collected  together  a  vast  host  from  sacred  Greece  for  Troy  with 
its  beauteous  women. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Contemporary  Sources :  Fragments  of  the  elegiac  poets,  especially  Callinus, 
Archilochus,  and  Mimnermus ;  Hesiod  ;  Inscriptions. 

Derivative  Sources :  Strabo,  Geography,  passim ;  Thucydides,  VI,  3-5 ; 
Pausanias,  Description  of  Greece,  passim ;  Herodotus,  II,  178-179;  IV,  156-159; 
I.  14;  Pindar,  Pyth.,  IV,  1-12,  59-67. 

Modern  Authorities  :  Botsford,  History,  chap,  ii ;  Bury,  History,  chap,  ii ;  Holm, 
History,  Vol.  I,  chap,  xxi ;  Oman,  History  of  Greece,  chap,  ix ;  Abbott,  History, 
Vol.  I,  chap,  xi ;  Curtius,  History,  Vol.  I,  Bk.  II,  chap,  iii ;  Grote,  History,  Vol.  Ill, 
chaps,  xxii-xxiii ;  Cox,  The  Greeks  and  the  Persians,  chap,  vi,  pp.  26  ff. ;  Cox,  A 
General  History  of  Greece,  Bk.  I,  chap,  viii ;  Freeman,  History  of  Sicily,  Vol.  I, 
chap,  iv ;  Freeman,  Story  of  Sicily,  chaps,  ii,  iv ;  Greenidge,  Handbook  of  Greek 
Constitutional  History,  chap,  iii ;  Cunningham,  Western  Civilization  in  its  Eco- 
nomic Aspects,  Bk.  II,  chap,  i ;  Mahaffy,  Problems  of  Greek  History,  Appendix 
(uncertain  dates  of  Sicilian  colonization) ;  Beloch,  Griechische  Geschichte,  Band  I, 
Abschnitt  VI ;  Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  Band  I,  Kap.  ii,  §§8-ro;  Thirlwall, 


50  READINGS  IN  GREEK   HIS7'0RY 

Band?  l'  ?u"' ""''■•''  ^'^P-  "''  "°'"'  ^^^^^-'^^^  ^i-'-n^  i-  Alterthum 
PP  8.  ;  rr  ',  '^'-  "n^.'^r^'  '''^  ^^^^^^^^  °^  colonization,  Vol.  I,  chap  "' 
/p^  ^\.  ^  r°"'  ^^'  International  Law  and  Custom  of  Ancient  Greece 
and  Rome  Vol  II,  chap,  xix;  Freeman,  Historical  Geography,  chap  ii  To.eT 
History  of  Anc:ent  Geography,  chap,  iii ;  Naukratis,  Parts  III,  in  /'./iiw 
fptfff  Y^'-^^'--'/-'^'-  Head,  Historia  Numorum  (3d  ed.),  Introd  i^ 
pp.  XI   ff.;    §  V,  pp.  xhx  ff.;  F.  W.  Hasluck,  Cyzicus ;    D.  M.  Robinson,  Ac  en 


CHAPTER   III 

RELIGIOUS  LEAGUES  AND  FESTIVALS 

Asia  Minor  —  Panionium  —  llranchidae  —  Delos  —  Dodona  —  Delphi  —  Olympia 

In  lands  where  there  were  so  many  small  independent  political 

units  the  festivals  and  games  served  as  the  chief  bond  for  all 

Hellenes.    Besides  the  great  national  festivals  some  local  leagues 

were  important. 

I.    Asia  Minor 

1.    PANIONIUM 
Herodotus^  I,  142-143 

Now  the  lonians  of  Asia,  who  meet  at  the  Panionium,  have 
built  their  cities  in  a  region  where  the  air  and  climate  are  the 
most  beautiful  in  the  whole  world  :  for  no  other  region  is  equally 
blessed  with  Ionia,  neither  above  it  nor  below  it,  nor  east  nor  west 
of  it.  For  in  other  countries  either  the  climate  is  over  cold  and 
damp,  or  else  the  heat  and  drought  are  sorely  oppressive.  The 
lonians  do  not  all  speak  the  same  language,  but  use  in  different 
places  four  different  dialects.  Towards  the  south  their  first  city 
is  Miletus,  next  to  which  lie  Myus  and  Priene  ;  all  these  three  are 
in  Caria  and  have  the  same  dialect.  Their  cities  in  Lydia  are  the 
following:  Ephesus,  Colophon,  Lebedus,  Teos,  Clazomenae,  and 
Phocaea.  The  inhabitants  of  these  towns  have  none  of  the  peculi- 
arities of  speech  which  belong  to  the  three  first-named  cities,  but 
use  a  dialect  of  their  own.  There  remain  three  other  Ionian  towns, 
two  situate  in  isles,  namely,  Samos  and  Chios  ;  and  one  upon  the 
mainland,  which  is  Erythrse.  Of  these  Chios  and  Erythrae  have 
the  same  dialect,  while  Samos  possesses  a  language  peculiar  to 
itself.     Such  are  the  four  varieties  of  which  I  spoke. 

Of  the  lonians  at  this  period,  one  people,  the  Milesians,  were 
in  no  danger  of  attack,  as  Cyrus  had  received  them  into  alliance. 

51 


52  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

The  islanders  also  had  as  yet  nothing  to  fear,  since  Phoenicia  was 
still  independent  of  Persia,  and  the  Persians  themselves  were  not 
a  seafaring  people.  The  Milesians  had  separated  from  the  common 
cause  solely  on  account  of  the  extreme  weakness  of  the  lonians  : 
for,  feeble  as  the  power  of  the  entire  Hellenic  race  was  at  that 
time,  of  all  its  tribes  the  Ionic  was  by  far  the  feeblest  and  least 
esteemed,  not  possessing  a  single  State  of  any  mark  excepting 
Athens.  The  Athenians  and  most  of  the  other  Ionic  States  over 
the  world,  went  so  far  in  their  dislike  of  the  name  as  actually  to 
lay  it  aside  ;  and  even  at  the  present  day  the  greater  number  of 
them  seem  to  me  to  be  ashamed  of  it.  But  the  twelve  cities  in 
Asia  have  always  gloried  in  the  appellation  ;  they  gave  the  temple 
which  they  built  for  themselves  the  name  of  the  Panionium,  and 
decreed  that  it  should  not  be  open  to  any  of  the  other  Ionic  States ; 
no  State,  however,  except  Smyrna,  has  craved  admission  to  it. 

Herodotus,  I,  148-149 

The  Panionium  is  a  place  in  Mycale,  facing  the  north,  which 
was  chosen  by  the  common  voice  of  the  lonians  and  made  sacred  to 
Heliconian  Poseidon.  Mycale  itself  is  a  promontory  of  the  mainland, 
stretching  out  westward  towards  Samos,  in  which  the  lonians  assem- 
ble from  all  their  States  to  keep  the  feast  of  the  Panionia.  The  names 
of  festivals,  not  only  among  the  lonians  but  among  all  the  Greeks, 
end,  like  the  Persian  proper  names,  in  one  and  the  same  letter. 

The  above-mentioned,  then,  are  the  twelve  towns  of  the  lonians. 
The  ^olic  cities  are  the  following  :  —  Cyme,  called  also  Phriconis, 
Larissa,  Neonteichus,  Temnus,  Cilia,  Notium,  yEgiroessa,  Pitane, 
^gaeae,  Myrina,  and  Gryneia.  These  are  the  eleven  ancient  cities 
of  the  Cohans.  Originally,  indeed,  they  had  twelve  cities  upon 
the  mainland,  like  the  lonians,  but  the  lonians  deprived  them  of 
Smyrna,  one  of  the  number.  The  soil  of  yEolis  is  better  than  that 
of  Ionia,  but  the  climate  is  less  agreeable. 

2.    BRANCHIDyE 

Several  archaic  seated  figures  were  found  along  the  Sacred  Way 
leading  from  the  temple  to  the  harbor.  They  are  now  in  the 
British  Museum. ^ 

1  See  British  Museum  Catalogue  of  Sculpture,  Archaic  Period,  for  details. 


RELIGIOUS  LEAGUES  AND  FESTIVALS  53 

Two  of  them  bear  the  following  inscriptions  : 

Hicks  and  Hill,  6,  7 

"  Histaeus  dedicated  me  to  Apollo." 

"I  am  Chares,  son  of  Kleisias,  ruler  of  Teichioussa.  The 
statue  is  the  property  of  Apollo." 

Herodotus,  I,  157 

Branchidas  is  situated  in  the  territory  of  Miletus,  above  the 
port  of  Panormus.  There  was  an  oracle  there,  established  in 
very  ancient  times,  which  both  the  lonians  and  yEolians  were 
wont  often  to  consult. 

Herodotus,  V,  36 

Miletus  was,  he  knew,  a  weak  state  —  but  if  the  treasures  in  the 
temple  at  Branchidae,  which  Croesus  the  Lydian  gave  to  it,  were 
seized,  he  had  strong  hopes  that  the  mastery  of  the  sea  might  be 
thereby  gained  ;  at  least  it  would  give  them  money  to  begin  the 
war,  and  would  save  the  treasures  from  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.  Now  these  treasures  were  of  very  great  value,  as  I 
showed  in  the  first  part  of  my  history. 

II.  Delos 

No  spot  in  Greek  lands  was  more  famous  than  sea-girt  Delos, 
the  sacred  birthplace  of  Apollo. 

This  little  island  was  a  religious  center  for  many  generations. ^ 

Thucydides,  III,  104 

The  same  winter  the  Athenians  purified  Delos,  in  compliance, 
it  appears,  with  a  certain  oracle.  It  had  been  purified  before  by 
Pisistratus  the  tyrant ;  not  indeed  the  whole  island,  but  as  much 
of  it  as  could  be  seen  from  the  temple.  All  of  it  was,  however, 
now  purified  in  the  following  way.  All  the  sepulchres  of  those 
that  had  died  in  Delos  were  taken  up,  and  for  the  future  it  was 
commanded  that  no  one  should  be  allowed  either  to  die  or  to  give 
birth  to  a  child  in  the  island  :  but  that  they  should  be  carried  over 

1  In  recent  years  excavations  by  the  French  School  at  Athens  have  unearthed  many 
remains  of  the  precinct. 


54  READINGS   IN  (;RRP:K   HISTORY 

to  Rhcnea,  which  is  so  near  to  Delos  that  Folycrates,  tyrant  of 
Samos,  having  added  Rhenea  to  his  other  island  conquests  during 
his  period  of  naval  ascendancy,  dedicated  it  to  the  Delian  Apollo 
by  binding  it  to  Delos  with  a  chain. 

The  Athenians,  after  the  purification,  celebrated,  for  the  first 
time,  the  quinquennial  festival  of  the  Delian  games.  Once  upon 
a  time,  indeed,  there  was  a  great  assemblage  of  the  lonians  and 
the  neighbouring  islanders  at  Delos,  who  used  to  come  to  the  fes- 
tival, as  the  lonians  now  do  to  that  of  Ephesus,  and  athletic  and 
poetical  contests  took  place  there,  and  the  cities  brought  choirs  of 
dancers.  Nothing  can  be  clearer  on  this  point  than  the  following 
verses  of  Homer,  taken  from  a  hymn  to  Apollo  :  — 

Phoebus,  where'er  thou  strayest,  far  or  n'ear, 
Delos  was  still  of  all  thy  haunts  most  dear. 
Thither  the  robed  lonians  take  their  way 
With  wife  and  child  to  keep  thy  holiday, 
Invoke  thy  favour  on  each  manly  game, 
And  dance  and  sing  in  honour  of  thy  name. 

That  there  was  also  a  poetical  contest  in  which  the  lonians  went 
to  contend,  again  is  shown  by  the  following,  taken  from  the  same 
hymn.  After  celebrating  the  Delian  dance  of  the  women,  he  ends 
his  song  of  praise  with  these  .verses,  in  which  he  also  alludes  to 
himself  :  — 

Well,  may  Apollo  keep  you  all !  and  so, 
Sweethearts,  good-bye  —  yet  tell  me  not  I  go 
Out  from  your  hearts ;  and  if  in  after  hours 
Some  other  wanderer  in  this  world  of  ours 
Touch  at  your  shores,  and  ask  your  maidens  here 
Who  sings  the  songs  the  sweetest  to  your  ear, 
Think  of  me  then,  and  answer  with  a  smile, 
"A  blind  old  man  of  Scio's  rocky  isle." 

Homer  thus  attests  that  there  was  anciently  a  great  assembly 
and  festival  at  Delos.  In  later  times,  although  the  islanders  and 
the  Athenians  continued  to  send  the  choirs  of  dancers  with  sacri- 
fices, the  contests  and  most  of  the  ceremonies  were  abolished, 
probably  through  adversity,  until  the  Athenians  celebrated  the 
games  upon  this  occasion  with  the  novelty  of  horse-races. 


RELIGIOUS  LEAGUES  AND  FESTIVALS  55 

III.    DODONA 

The  Greeks  agreed  in  attributing  a  great  antiquity  to  the  oracle 
at  Dodona,  "  The  Talking  Oak." 

Whoever  the  Pelasgians  were  they  surely  belong  to  a  very  early 
period.  The  people  of  Epirus  were  still  uncivilized  in  the  days  of 
Philip  of  Macedon, 

Strabo,  VII,  vii,  10 

This  oracle,  according  to  Ephorus,  was  established  by  Pelasgi, 
who  are  said  to  be  the  most  ancient  people  that  were  sovereigns  in 
Greece.    Thus  the  poet  speaks, 

O  great  Pelasgic  Dodonaean  Zeus ; 
and  Hesiod, 

He  went  to  Dodona,  the  dwelling  of  the  Pelasgi,  and  to  the  beech  tree. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  Pelasgi  in  the  account  of  Tyrrhenia. 

With  respect  to  Dodona,  Homer  clearly  intimates  that  the  peo- 
ple who  lived  about  the  temple  were  barbarians,  from  their  mode 
of  life,  describing  them  as  persons  who  do  not  wash  their  feet,  and 
who  sleep  on  the  ground. 

IV,    Delphi 

Strabo,  IX,  ill,  4-5 

The  temple  at  Delphi  is  now  much  neglected,  although  formerly 
it  was  held  in  the  greatest  veneration.  Proofs  of  the  respect  which 
was  paid  to  it  are,  the  treasuries  constructed  at  the  expense  of 
communities  and  princes,  where  was  deposited  the  wealth  dedicated 
to  sacred  uses,  the  works  of  the  most  eminent  artists,  the  Pythian 
games,  and  a  multitude  of  celebrated  oracles. 

The  place  where  the  oracle  is  delivered,  is  said  to  be  a  deep 
hollow  cavern,  the  entrance  to  which  is  not  very  wide.  PYom  it 
rises  up  an  exhalation  which  inspires  a  divine  frenzy  :  over  the 
mouth  is  placed  a  lofty  tripod  on  which  the  Pythian  priestess 
ascends  to  receive  the  exhalation,  after  which  she  gives  the 
prophetic  response  in  verse  or  prose. 


56  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Strabo,  IX,  iii,  6 

Although  the  highest  honour  was  paid  to  this  temple  on  account 
of  the  oracle,  (for  it  was  the  most  exempt  of  any  from  deception,) 
yet  its  reputation  was  owing  in  part  to  its  situation  in  the  centre 
of  all  Greece,  both  within  and  without  the  isthmus.  It  was  also 
supposed  to  be  the  centre  of  the  habitable  earth,  and  was  called 
the  Navel  of  the  earth.  A  fable,  referred  to  by  Pindar,  was  in- 
vented, according  to  which  two  eagles,  (or,  as  others  say,  two 
crows,)  set  free  by  Zeus,  one  from  the  east,  the  other  from  the 
west,  alighted  together  at  Delphi.  In  the  temple  is  seen  a  sort 
of  navel  wrapped  in  bands,  and  surmounted  by  figures  represent- 
ing the  birds  of  the  fable. 

As  the  situation  of  Delphi  is  convenient,  persons  easily  assem- 
bled there,  particularly  those  from  the  neighbourhood,  of  whom 
the  Amphictyonic  body  is  composed, 

Strabo,  XVI,  ii,  38-39 

The  ancients  regarded  and  respected  divine,  in  preference  to 
human,  law  ;  in  those  times,  therefore,  the  number  of  persons  was 
very  great  who  consulted  oracles,  and,  being  desirous  of  obtaining 
the  advice  of  Zeus,  hurried  to  Dodona,  "  to  hear  the  answer  of 
Zeus  from  the  lofty  oak."  The  parent  went  to  Delphi,  "anxious 
to  learn  whether  the  child  which  had  been  exposed  (to  die)  was 
still  living"  ;  while  the  child  itself  "was  gone  to  the  temple  of 
Apollo,  with  the  hope  of  discovering  its  parents."  And  Minos 
among  the  Cretans,  "  the  king  who  in  the  ninth  year  enjoyed  con- 
verse with  Great  Zeus,"  every  nine  years,  as  Plato  says,  ascended 
to  the  cave  of  Zeus,  received  ordinances  from  him,  and  conveyed 
them  to  men.  Lycurgus,  his  imitator,  acted  in  a  similar  manner ; 
for  he  was  often  accustomed,  as  it  seemed,  to  leave  his  own  coun- 
try to  inquire  of  the  Pythian  goddess  what  ordinances  he  was  to 
promulgate  to  the  Lacedaemonians. 

"What  truth  there  may  be  in  these  things  I  cannot  say  ;  they 
have  at  least  been  regarded  and  believed  as  true  by  mankind. 
Hence  prophets  received  so  much  honour  as  to  be  thought  worthy 
even  of  thrones,  because  they  were  supposed  to  communicate  ordi- 
nances and  precepts  from  the  gods,  both  during  their  lifetime  and 


RELIGIOUS  LEAGUES  AND  FESTIVALS  57 

after  their  death ;  as  for  example  Teiresias,  "  to  whom  alone 
Proserpine  gave  wisdom  and  understanding  after  death  :  the  others 
flit  about  as  shadows." 

Euripides,  Ion,  91-111  (tr.  Verrall) 

The  priestess  waits  Apollo's  sign, 
On  the  tripod  waits  Apollo, 
There  to  hear  his  voice  and  follow 
Forth  in  public  chant  his  secret  sense. 

Go,  his  Delphian  servants,  ye 
To  the  silver  eddies  of  Castaly, 
And  bathe  yourselves,  and  come  again, 
Clean  and  made  holy,  to  the  fane. 
Guard  your  speech,  that  never  word 
On  your  noble  lips  be  heard 
To  mar  their  purpose,  who  resort 
For  question  to  this  sacred  court. 

I  the  while  the  task  fulfil 
Which  is  mine  from  childhood  still. 
With  laurel  bough  in  mystic  tie 
The  portal  here  to  purify, 

To  sprinkle  o'er 

The  holy  floor, 
And  banish  far  the  feathered  race, 
That  do  our  beauteous  gifts  disgrace, 
With  arrows.    Father  had  I  none, 
Mother  none,  and  thus  alone 
Love  and  service  all  I  give 
To  Phoebus'  house,  whereby  I  live. 

Paiisanias,  X,  v,  5 

They  say  that  the  most  ancient  temple  of  Apollo  was  made  of 
laurel,  and  that  the  boughs  were  brought  from  the  laurel  in  Tempe. 
This  temple  must  have  been  in  the  shape  of  a  shanty.  The  Del- 
phians  say  that  the  second  temple  was  made  by  bees  out  of  wax  and 
feathers,  and  that  it  was  sent  to  the  Hyperboreans  by  Apollo.  .  .  . 
Touching  the  third,  temple,  it  is  no  marvel  that  it  was  made  of 
bronze,  since  Acrisius  made  a  bronze  chamber  for  his  daughter; 


58  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

and  the  Lacedaemonians  have  a  sanctuaiy  of  Athena  of  the  Bronze 
House  to  this  day  ;  and  the  Forum  at  Rome,  a  miracle  of  size  and 
style,  has  a  roof  of  bronze.  .  .  .  The  fourth  temple  was  built  by 
Trophonius  and  Agamedes,  and  tradition  says  that  it  was  made  of 
stone.  But  it  was  burnt  down  when  Erxiclides  was  archon  at 
Athens.  .  .  .  The  present  temple  was  built  for  the  god  by  the 
Amphictyons  out  of  the  sacred  treasures :  the  architect  was 
Spintharus  of  Corinth. 

Herodotus,  I,  50-52 

After  this  Croesus,  having  resolved  to  propitiate  the  Delphic 
god  with  a  magnificent  sacrifice,  offered  up  three  thousand  of  every 
kind  of  sacrificial  beast,  and  besides  made  a  huge  pile,  and  placed 
upon  it  couches  coated  with  silver  and  with  gold,  and  golden 
goblets,  and  robes  and  vests  of  purple  ;  all  which  he  burnt  in  the 
hope  of  thereby  making  himself  more  secure  of  the  favour  of  the 
god.  Further  he  issued  his  orders  to  all  the  people  of  the  land  to 
offer  a  sacrifice  according  to  their  means.  When  the  sacrifice  was 
ended,  the  king  melted  down  a  vast  quantity  of  gold,  and  ran  it 
into  ingots,  making  them  six  palms  long,  three  palms  broad,  and 
one  palm  in  thickness.  The  number  of  ingots  was  a  hundred  and 
seventeen,  four  being  of  refined  gold,  in  weight  two  talents  and  a 
half ;  the  others  of  pale  gold,  and  in  weight  two  talents.  He  also 
caused  a  statue  of  a  lion  to  be  made  in  refined  gold,  the  weight  of 
which  was  ten  talents.  At  the  time  when  the  temple  of  Delphi 
was  burnt  to  the  ground,  this  lion  fell  from  the  ingots  on  which  it 
was  placed  ;  it  now  stands  in  the  Corinthian  treasury,  and  weighs 
only  six  talents  and  a  half,  having  lost  three  talents  and  a  half  by 
the  fire. 

On  the  completion  of  these  works  Croesus  sent  them  away  to 
Delphi,  and  with  them  two  bowls  of  an  enormous  size,  one  of 
gold,  the  other  of  silver,  which  used  to  stand,  the  latter  upon  the 
right,  the  former  upon  the  left,  as  one  entered  the  temple.  They 
too  were  moved  at  the  time  of  the  fire  ;  and  now  the  golden  one 
is  in  the  Clazomenian  treasury,  and  weighs  eight  talents  and  forty- 
two  minse  ;  the  silver  one  stands  in  the  corner  of  the  ante-chapel, 
and  holds   six  hundred  amphorae.    This  is  known,   because  the 


RELIGIOUS  LEAGUES  AND  FESTIVALS  59 

Delphians  fill  it  at  the  time  of  the  Theophania.  It  is  said  by  the 
Delphians  to  be  a  work  of  Theodore  the  Samian,  and  I  think  that 
they  say  true,  for  assuredly  it  is  the  work  of  no  common  artist. 
Croesus  sent  also  four  silver  casks,  which  are  in  the  Corinthian 
treasury,  and  two  lustra!  vases,  a  golden  and  a  silver  one.  On  the 
former  is  inscribed  the  name  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  they 
claim  it  as  a  gift  of  theirs,  but  wrongly,  since  it  was  really  given 
by  Croesus.  The  inscription  upon  it  was  cut  by  a  Delphian,  who 
wished  to  pleasure  the  Lacedaemonians.  His  name  is  known  to 
me,  but  I  forbear  to  mention  it.  The  boy,  through  whose  hand 
the  water  runs,  is  (I  confess)  a  Lacedaemonian  gift,  but  they  did 
not  give  either  of  the  lustral  vases.  Besides  these  various  offerings, 
Croesus  sent  to  Delphi  many  others  of  less  account,  among  the 
rest  a  number  of  round  silver  basins.  Also  he  dedicated  a  female 
figure  in  gold,  three  cubits  high,  which  is  said  by  the  Delphians 
to  be  the  statue  of  his  baking-woman ;  and  further,  he  presented 
the  necklace  and  the  girdles  of  his  wife. 

These  were  the  offerings  sent  by  Croesus  to  Delphi.  To  the 
shrine  of  Amphiaraus,  with  whose  valour  and  misfortune  he  was 
acquainted,  he  sent  a  shield  entirely  of  gold,  and  a  spear,  also  of 
solid  gold,  both  head  and  shaft.  They  were  still  existing  in  my 
day  at  Thebes,  laid  up  in  the  temple  of  Ismenian  Apollo. 

Herodotus,  I,  92 

Besides  the  offerings  which  have  been  already  mentioned,  there 
are  many  others  in  various  parts  of  Greece  presented  by  Croesus  ; 
as  at  Thebes  in  Boeotia,  where  there  is  a  golden  tripod,  dedicated 
by  him  to  Ismenian  Apollo ;  at  Ephesus,  where  the  golden  heifers, 
and  most  of  the  columns  are  his  gift;  and  at  Delphi,  in  the  temple 
of  Pronaia,  where  there  is  a  huge  shield  in  gold,  which  he  gave. 
All  these  offerings  were  still  in  existence  in  my  day ;  many  others 
have  perished :  among  them  those  which  he  dedicated  at  Branchidas 
in  Milesia,  equal  in  weight,  as  I  am  informed,  and  in  all  respects 
like  to  those  at  Delphi.  The  Delphian  presents,  and  those  sent  to 
Amphiaraus,  came  from  his  own  private  property,  being  the  first- 
fruits  of  the  fortune  which  he  inherited  from  his  father ;  his 
other  offerings  came  from  the  riches  of  an  enemy,  who,  before  he 


6o  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

mounted  the  throne,  headed  a  party  against  him,  with  the  view  of 
obtaining  the  crown  of  Lydia  for  Pantaleon. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  5 

"  King  Croesus  dedicated  [the  column]."    (At  Ephesus)  ^ 

Herodotus,  II,  180 

It  happened  in  the  reign  of  Amasis  that  the  temple  of  Delphi 
had  been  accidentally  burnt,  and  the  Amphictyons  had  contracted 
to  have  it  rebuilt  for  three  hundred  talents,  of  which  sum  one-fourth 
was  to  be  furnished  by  the  Delphians,  Under  these  circumstances 
the  Delphians  went  from  city  to  city  begging  contributions,  and 
among  their  other  wanderings  came  to  Egypt  and  asked  for  help. 
From  few  other  places  did  they  obtain  so  much  —  Amasis  gave  them 
a  thousand  talents  of  alum,  and  the  Greek  settlers  twenty  minae,^ 

On  the  Pythian  games,  see  Pausanias,  X,  vii,  2  ff. 

V,    Olympia 
Pausanias,  V,  vii,  4 

With  regard  to  the  Olympic  games,  the  Elean  antiquaries  say 
that  Cronus  first  reigned  in  heaven,  and  that  a  temple  was  made 
for  him  at  Olympia  by  the  men  of  that  age,  who  were  named  the 
Golden  Race  ;  that  when  Zeus  was  born,  Rhea  committed  the  safe- 
keeping of  the  child  to  the  Idasan  Dactyls  or  Curetes,  as  they  are 
also  called  ;  that  the  Dactyls  came  from  Ida  in  Crete,  and  their 
names  were  Hercules,  Pseonaeus,  Epimedes,  lasius,  and  Idas  ;  and 
that  in  sport  Hercules,  as  the  eldest,  set  his  brethren  to  run  a 
race,  and  crowned  the  victor  with  a  branch  of  wild  olive,  of  which 
they  had  such  an  abundance  that  they  slept  on  heaps  of  its  fresh 
green  leaves.  They  say  that  the  wild  olive  was  brought  to  Greece 
by  Hercules  from  the  land  of  the  Hyperboreans.  .  .  ,  The  Idaean 
Hercules  is  therefore  reputed  to  have  been  the  first  to  arrange  the 
games,  and  to  have  given  them  the  name  Olympic.  He  made  the 
rule  that  they  should  be  celebrated  every  fourth  year,  because  he 

1  Now  in  the  British  Museum. 

2  Results  of  the  work  of  the  French  School  are  embodied  in  the  elaborate  publication 
by  Homolle,  "  Fouilles  de  Delphes."  The  precinct  itself,  with  its  manifold  buildings  as  well 
as  the  individual  remains  of  sculpture,  rivals  that  of  Olympia. 


RELIGIOUS  LEAGUES  AND  FESTIVALS  6i 

and  his  brothers  were  five  in  number.  Some  say  that  Zeus  here 
wrestled  with  Cronus  himself  for  the  kingdom  ;  others  that  he 
held  the  games  in  honour  of  his  victory  over  Cronus.  Amongst 
those  who  are  said  to  have  gained  victories  is  Apollo,  who  is  re- 
lated to  have  outrun  Hermes  in  a  race,  and  to  have  vanquished 
Ares  in  boxing.  They  say  that  is  why  the  flutes  play  the  Pythian  air, 
while  the  competitors  in  the  pentathlum  are  leaping,  because  that 
air  is  sacred  to  Apollo,  and  the  god  himself  had  won  Olympic  crowns. 

Faiisanias,  V,  ix,  3 

The  present  order  of  the  games,  according  to  which  the  sacri- 
fices for  the  pentathlum  and  the  chariot-race  are  offered  to  the  god 
after  <the  other)  contests,  was  first  instituted  in  the  seventy-seventh 
Olympiad.  Previously  the  contests  for  men  and  chariots  had  both 
been  held  on  the  same  day.  On  that  occasion  the  pancratiasts  had 
to  prolong  their  contest  into  the  night  because  they  had  not  been 
called  on  early  enough.  The  cause  of  the  delay  was  the  chariot- 
race,  and  still  more  the  contest  in  the  pentathlum.  Callias  of 
Athens  was  victorious  in  the  pancratium ;  but  for  the  future  neither 
the  pentathlum  nor  the  chariot-race  was  to  interfere  with  the  pan- 
cratium. The  present  rules  as  to  the  presidents  of  the  games  are 
not  what  they  were  originally.  Iphitus  presided  alone  over  the 
games,  and  after  Iphitus  the  descendants  of  Oxylus  did  likewise. 
But  in  the  fiftieth  Olympiad  two  men^  selected  by  lot  from  the 
whole  body  of  the  Eleans,  were  entrusted  with  the  presidency  of 
the  festival,  and  for  a  long  time  afterwards  the  number  of  the  presi- 
dents continued  to  be  two.  But  in  the  twenty-fifth  Olympiad  nine 
umpires  were  appointed,  of  whom  three  were  entrusted  with  the 
chariot-race,  three  were  to  watch  the  pentathlum,  and  the  rest 
were  to  take  charge  of  the  other  contests.  In  the  next  Olympiad 
but  one  a  tenth  umpire  was  added.  In  the  hundred  and  third 
Olympiad  the  Eleans  were  divided  into  twelve  tribes,  and  one 
umpire  was  taken  from  each  tribe.  But  being  hard  put  to  it  by 
the  Arcadians  in  war,  they  lost  a  piece  of  their  territory,  together 
with  all  the  townships  which  were  contained  in  the  district  thus 
severed  from  Elis,  and  so  in  the  hundred  and  fourth  Olympiad 
they  were  reduced  to  the  number  of  eight  tribes,  and  the  number 


62  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

of  the  umpires  chosen  corresponded  to  the  number  of  the  tribes. 
But  in  the  hundred  and  eighth  Olympiad  they  reverted  to  the  num- 
ber of  ten,  which  has  remained  unaltered  from  that  day  to  this. 

Paiisatiias,  V,  xxi,  2 

On  the  way  from  the  Metroum  to  the  stadium  there  is  on  the 
left,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Cronius,  a  terrace  of  stone  close  to  the 
mountain,  and  steps  lead  up  through  the  terrace.  At  the  terrace 
stand  bronze  images  of  Zeus.  These  images  were  made  from  the 
fines  imposed  on  athletes  who  wantonly  violated  the  rules  of  the 
games  :  they  are  called  Zanes  (Zeuses)  by  the  natives.  At  first 
six  were  set  up  in  the  ninety-eighth  Olympiad  ;  for  Eupolus,  a 
Thessalian,  bribed  the  boxers  who  presented  themselves,  to  wit, 
Agetor,  an  Arcadian,  Prytanis  of  Cyzicus,  and  Phormio  of  Hali- 
carnassus,  the  last  of  whom  had  been  victorious  in  the  preceding 
Olympiad.  They  say  that  this  was  the  first  offence  committed  by 
athletes  against  the  rules  of  the  games,  and  Eupolus  and  the  men 
he  bribed  were  the  first  who  were  fined  by  the  Eleans.  Two  of  the 
images  are  by  Cleon  of  Sicyon  :  I  do  not  know  who  made  the  next 
four.  These  images,  with  the  exception  of  the  third  and  fourth, 
bear  inscriptions  in  elegiac  verse.  The  purport  of  the  verses  on 
the  first  is  that  an  Olympic  victory  is  to  be  gained,  not  by  money, 
but  by  fleetness  of  foot  and  strength  of  body.  The  verses  on  the 
second  declare  that  the  image  has  been  set  up  in  honour  of  the 
deity  and  by  the  piety  of  the  Eleans,  and  to  be  a  terror  to  athletes 
who  transgress.  The  sense  of  the  inscription  on  the  fifth  image 
is  a  general  praise  of  the  Eleans,  with  a  particular  reference  to  the 
punishment  of  the  boxers  ;  and  on  the  sixth  and  last  it  is  stated 
that  the  images  are  a  warning  to  all  the  Greeks  not  to  give  money 
for  the  purpose  of  gaining  an  Olympic  victory. 

Herodotus,  II,  160 

In  the  reign  of  Psammis,  ambassadors  from  Elis  ^  arrived  in 
Egypt,  boasting  that  their  arrangements  for  the  conduct  of  the 

1 '"  Records  of  the  Olympian  victors  seem  to  have  been  kept  by  the  Eleans  since  the 
early  part  of  the  sixth  century ;  but  the  Olympian  list,  as  a  whole,  with  the  dates  of  the 
eighth  and  seventh  centuries,  seems  to  have  been  first  worked  out  by  Hippias  of  Elis  at 
the  very  end  of  the  fifth  century."    (Bury,  p.  86i) 

Mahaffy,  ''  Problems,"  pp.  217  ff.,  regards  these  dates  as  untrustworthy. 


RELIGIOUS   LEAGUES  AND   FESTIVALS  63 

Olympic  games  were  the  best  and  fairest  that  could  be  devised, 
and  fancying  that  not  even  the  Egyptians,  who  surpassed  all  other 
nations  in  wisdom,  could  add  anything  to  their  perfection.  When 
these  persons  reached  Egypt,  and  explained  the  reason  of  their 
visit,  the  king  summoned  an  assembly  of  all  the  wisest  of  the 
Egyptians.  They  met,  and  the  Eleans  having  given  them  a  full 
account  of  all  their  rules  and  regulations  with  respect  to  the  con- 
tests, said  that  they  had  come  to  Egypt  for  the  express  purpose  of 
learning  whether  the  Egyptians  could  improve  the  fairness  of  their 
regulations  in  any  particular.  The  Egyptians  considered  awhile, 
and  then  made  inquiry,  "If  they  allowed  their  own  citizens  to  enter 
the  lists  ?  "  The  Eleans  answered,  "  That  the  lists  were  open  to 
all  Greeks,  whether  they  belonged  to  Elis  or  to  any  other  state." 
Hereupon  the  Egyptians  observed,  "  That  if  this  were  so,  they  de- 
parted from  justice  very  widely,  since  it  was  impossible  but  that 
they  would  favour  their  own  countrymen,  and  deal  unfairly  by  for- 
eigners. If  therefore  they  really  wished  to  manage  the  games  with 
fairness,  and  if  this  was  the  object  of  their  coming  to  Egypt,  they 
advised  them  to  confine  the  contests  to  strangers,  and  allow  no 
native  of  Elis  to  be  a  candidate."  Such  was  the  advice  which  the 
Egyptians  gave  to  the  Eleans. 

Some  of  these  lists  are  contained  in  the  OxyrJiyncJius  Papyri, 
a  series  of  valuable  documents  recently  found  in  Egypt.  (See  Gren- 
fell  and  Hunt,  OxyrJiyiichus  Papyri,  Vol.  II,  p.  85,  no.  ccxxii.) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Contemporary  Sources :  Homeric  Hymn  to  Apollo. 

Derivative  Sources:  Euripides,  Ion;  Plato,  Republic;  Pindar,  Odes.  (See 
further  sources  in  Bury,  History,  p.  862.) 

Reports  of  Excavations  :  Homolle,  Fouilles  de  Delphes  ;  Curtius  and  Adler, 
Olympia ;  Frazer,  Pausanias ;  Ecole  fran9aise  d'Athenes,  Exploration  archeolo- 
gique  de  Delos. 

Modern  Works :  Bury,  History,  chap,  iii,  §§  5,  8  ;  Botsford,  History,  chap,  v 
(both  of  these  with  good  bibliographies) ;  Curtius,  History,  Vol.  II,  Bk.  II,  chap,  iv  ; 
Holm,  History,  Vol.  I,  chaps,  xix,  xxiv;  Abbott,  History,  Vol.  II,  chap,  i;  Grote, 
History,  Vol.  IV,  chaps,  xxviii-xxix;  Mahaffy,  Survey  of  Greek  Civilization,  chaps. 
iii-iv ;  Mahaffy,  Social  Life  in  Greece,  chaps,  iv-v ;  Mahaffy,  History  of  Greek 
Literature,  Vol.  I,  chaps,  vii,  x-xiii ;  Jebb,  Greek  Literature  (primer),  chap,  iii; 


64  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Murray,  Ancient  Greek  Literature,  chaps,  ii,  iv;  Pater,  Greek  Studies,  "  The  Age 
of  Athletic  Prizemen,"  pp.  286-319;  Diehl,  Excursions  in  Greece;  P.  Gardner, 
New  Chapters  in  Greek  History,  chaps,  vii,  ix,  xiv ;  E.  N.  Gardiner,  Greek 
Athletic  Games  and  Festivals. 

Note.  For  accounts  of  excavations  the  reader  is  referred  generally  to  the 
official  publication  and  is  then  advised,  whenever  possible,  to  consult  Frazer, 
"  Pausanias,"  where  full  references  are  given.  More  general  or  popular  accounts 
are  included  for  those  who  have  not  access  to  Frazer. 


CHAPTER   IV 

EARLY  TYRANNY 

General  discussion  —  In  Asia  Minor  and  the  Islands — Polycrates  of  Samos  — 

Teos —  Mitylene —  Sigeum  —  On  the  Greek  mainland —  Corinth,  the  Bacchiadae, 

and  the  Cypselids  —  Sicyon,  Cleisthenes — Megara,  political  revolution 

It  has  often  been  pointed  out  that  the  phrase  "Age  of  Tyrants" 
is  misleading  as  regards  the  Greeks,  that  tyranny  was  always  likely 
to  appear  among  them,  and  that  it  was  not  confined  to  a  single  age 
or  period.  It  is,  however,  true  that  it  was  rather  generally  preva- 
lent in  the  seventh  and  sixth  centuries.  The  whole  matter  was 
of  interest  to  all,  whether  they  lived  under  it  and  saw  its  practical 
workings  or  whether  they  looked  at  the  institution  from  a  more 
theoretical  point  of  view. 

Aristotle  discusses  it  among  other  forms  of  political  organization. 

I,    General  Discussion 

Aristotle,  Politics,  VI,  lo  (tr.  Welldon) 

There  are  two  species  of  Tyranny  which  we  distinguished  in 
our  investigation  of  Kingship  ;  for  their  character  in  a  certain 
sense  approximates  to  Kingship  and  overlaps  it,  inasmuch  as  both 
these  forms  of  rule  are  regulated  by  law,  I  refer  to  the  absolute 
monarchs  elected  among  some  non-Greek  peoples  and  to  the  cor- 
responding monarchs  who  were  formerly  created  among  the  ancient 
Greeks  and  were  known  as  ^symnetes.  No  doubt  there  are  cer- 
tain points  of  difference  between  these  two  forms  ;  but  they  both 
approximate  to  Kingship  in  their  constitutional  character  and  the 
voluntary  obedience  of  the  subjects,  while  they  resemble  a  Tyranny 
in  the  despotic  and  wholly  arbitrary  nature  of  the  rule.  There  is 
a  third  species  of  Tyranny  which  may  be  regarded  as  Tyranny  in 
the  strictest  sense,  being  the  counterpart  of  the  absolute  Kingship. 

65 


66  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

A  Tyranny  of  this  kind  is  necessarily  realized  in  the  form  of  Mon- 
archy which  is  an  irresponsible  exercise  of  rule  over  subjects,  all 
of  whom  are  the  equals  or  superiors  of  the  ruler,  for  the  personal 
advantage  of  the  ruler  and  not  of  the  subjects.  And  hence  the 
obedience  is  in  this  case  involuntary;  for  no  free  person  submits 
willingly  to  such  rule. 

Aristotle,  Politics,  VIII,  12 

Still  there  are  no  polities  which  have  so  short  a  duration  as 
Oligarchy  and  Tyranny.  The  Tyranny  of  Orthagoras  and  his  de- 
scendants at  Sicyon,  which  had  the  longest  existence,  lasted  only 
a  hundred  years.  The  explanation  of  its  permanence  is  that  they 
treated  their  subjects  with  moderation  and  submitted  themselves 
in  many  instances  to  the  laws,  that  the  military  genius  of  Cleis- 
thenes  prevented  him  from  becoming  an  object  of  contempt  and 
that  they  won  the  hearts  of  the  commons  as  much  as  any  dema- 
gogues could  have  done  by  the  constant  attention  which  they  de- 
voted to  their  interests.  It  is  said  at  least  that  Cleisthenes,  when 
he  zuas  a  competitor  for  a  price,  bestowed  a  crown  upon  the  judge 
who  had  refused  him  the  victory  ;  and  there  are  some  authorities 
who  assert  that  the  sitting  statue  in  the  market  is  the  effigy  of  the 
judge  who  pronounced  this  decision.  It  is  said  too  that  Pisistratus 
himself  submitted  on  one  occasion  to  appear  in  answer  to  a  sum- 
mons before  the  Areopagus.  Next  to  the  Sicyonian  Tyranny  the 
most  permanent  was  that  of  the  Cypselidae  at  Corinth  which  lasted 
seventy-three  years  and  six  months.  For  Cypselus  was  tyrant  for 
thirty  years,  Periander  for  forty  years  and  six  months  and  Psam- 
mitichus  the  son  of  Gordias  for  three  years.  The  causes  of  per- 
manence were  the  same  in  this  case  as  in  the  last,  viz.  that  Cypselus 
played  the  part  of  a  demagogue  and  never  employed  a  bodyguard 
during  the  whole  period  of  his  rule,  while  Periander  with  the  char- 
acter of  a  tyrant  had  also  the  genius  of  a  general.  The  third  longest 
Tyranny  was  that  of  the  Pisistratidae  at  Athens,  although  it  did  not 
continue  without  intermission,  as  Pisistratus  was  twice  banished 
during  his  Tyranny  and  consequently  in  a  period  of  three  and 
thirty  years  was  not  tyrant  for  more  than  seventeen.  These  with 
the  eighteen  years'  Tyranny  of  his  sons  make  a  total  of  thirty-five. 


EARLY  TYRANNY  67 

The  longest  Tyranny  with  these  exceptions  was  that  of  Hieron  and 
Gelon  at  Syracuse,  although  it  too  did  not  last  a  great  number  of 
years,  only  eighteen  in  all.  For  Gelon  died  after  seven  years  of 
tyrannical  power,  Hieron  enjoyed  it  for  ten  years  and  Thrasybulus 
was  expelled  in  the  eleventh  month  of  his  rule.  The  majority  of 
Tyrannies  have  not  lasted  more  than  a  very  short  time. 

II,    In  Asia  Minor  and  the  Islands 

1.    POLYCRATES  OF  SAMOS 
Herodotus,  III,  39 

While  Cambyses  was  carrying  on  this  war  in  Egypt,  the  Lacedae- 
monians likewise  sent  a  force  to  Samos  against  Polycrates,  the  son 
of  ^aces,  who  had  by  insurrection  made  himself  master  of  that 
island.  At  the  outset  he  divided  the  state  into  three  parts,  and 
shared  the  kingdom  with  his  brothers,  Pantagnotus  and  Syloson ; 
but  later,  having  killed  the  former  and  banished  the  latter,  who 
was  the  younger  of  the  two,  he  held  the  whole  island.  Hereupon 
he  made  a  contract  of  friendship  with  Amasis  the  Egyptian  king, 
sending  him  gifts,  and  receiving  from  him  others  in  return.  In  a 
little  while  his  power  so  greatly  increased,  that  the  fame  of  it  went 
abroad  throughout  Ionia  and  the  rest  of  Greece.  Wherever  he 
turned  his  arms,  success  waited  on  him.  He  had  a  fleet  of  a  hun- 
dred penteconters,  and  bowmen  to  the  number  of  a  thousand. 
Herewith  he  plundered  all,  without  distinction  of  friend  or  foe ; 
for  he  argued  that  a  friend  was  better  pleased  if  you  gave  him 
back  what  you  had  taken  from  him,  than  if  you  spared  him  at  the 
first.  He  captured  many  of  the  islands,  and  several  towns  upon 
the  mainland.  Among  his  other  doings  he  overcame  the  Lesbians 
in  a  sea-fight,  when  they  came  with  all  their  forces  to  the  help  of 
Miletus,  and  made  a  number  of  them  prisoners.  These  persons, 
laden  with  fetters,  dug  the  moat  which  surrounds  the  castle  at 
Samos. 

Herodotus,  III,  54-56 

The  Lacedjemonians  arrived  before  Samos  with  a  mighty  arma- 
ment, and  forthwith  laid  siege  to  the  place.  In  one  of  the  assaults 
upon  the  walls,  they  forced  their  way  to  the  top  of  the  tower  which 


68  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

stands  by  the  sea  on  the  side  where  the  suburb  is,  but  Polycrates 
came  in  person  to  the  rescue  with  a  strong  force,  and  beat  them 
back.  Meanwhile  at  the  upper  tower,  which  stqod  on  the  ridge  of 
the  hill,  the  besieged,  both  mercenaries  and  Samians,  made  a  sally; 
but  after  they  had  withstood  the  Lacedaemonians  a  short  time,  they 
fled  backwards,  and  the  Lacedaemonians,  pressing  upon  them, 
slew  numbers. 

If  now  all  who  were  present  had  behaved  that  day  like  Archias 
and  Lycopas,  two  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  Samos  might  have  been 
taken.  For  these  two  heroes,  following  hard  upon  the  flying  Sa- 
mians, entered  the  city  along  with  them,  and,  being  all  alone,  and 
their  retreat  cut  off,  were  slain  within  the  walls  of  the  place.  I  my- 
self once  fell  in  with  the  grandson  of  this  Archias,  a  man  named 
Archias  like  his  grandsire,  and  the  son  of  Samius,  whom  I  met 
at  Pitana,  to  which  canton  he  belonged.  He  respected  the  Samians 
beyond  all  other  foreigners,  and  he  told  me  that  his  father  was 
called  Samius,  because  his  grandfather  Archias  died  in  Samos  so 
gloriously,  and  that  the  reason  why  he  respected  the  Samians  so 
greatly  was,  that  his  grandsire  was  buried  with  public  honours 
by  the  Samian  people. 

The  Lacedaemonians  besieged  Samos  during  forty  days,  but  not 
making  any  progress  before  the  place,  they  raised  the  siege  at  the 
end  of  that  time,  and  returned  home  to  the  Peloponnese. 

Herodotus,  III,  60,  122,  125 

I  have  dwelt  the  longer  on  the  affairs  of  the  Samians,  because 
three  of  the  greatest  works  in  all  Greece  were  made  by  them.  One 
is  a  tunnel,  under  a  hill  one  hundred  and  fifty  fathoms  high,  carried 
entirely  through  the  base  of  the  hill,  with  a  mouth  at  either  end. 
The  length  of  the  cutting  is  seven  furlongs  —  the  height  and 
width  are  each  eight  feet.  Along  the  whole  course  there  is  a  second 
cutting,  twenty  cubits  deep  and  three  feet  broad,  w^hereby  water  is 
brought,  through  pipes,  from  an  abundant  source  into  the  city. 
The  architect  of  this  tunnel  was  Eupalinus,  son  of  Naustrophus, 
a  Megarian.  Such  is  the  first  of  their  great  works  ;  the  second  is 
a  mole  in  the  sea,  which  goes  all  round  the  harbour,  near  twenty 
fathoms  deep,  and  in  length  above  two  furlongs.    The  third  is  a 


EARLY  TYRANNY  69 

temple  ;  the  largest  of  all  the  temples  known  to  us,  whereof  Rhoe- 
cus,  son  of  Phileus,  a  Samian,  was  first  architect.  Because  of  these 
works  I  have  dwelt  the  longer  on  the  affairs  of  Samos.  .  .  . 

For  Polycrates  entertained  a  design  which  no  other  Greek,  so 
far  as  we  know,  ever  formed  before  him,  unless  it  were  Minos  the 
Cnossian,  and  those  (if  there  were  any  such)  who  had  the  mastery 
of  the  Egaean  at  an  earlier  time  —  Polycrates,  I  say,  was  the 
first  of  mere  human  birth  who  conceived  the  design  of  gaining 
the  empire  of  the  sea,  and  aspired  to  rule  over  Ionia  and  the 
islands.^  .  .  . 

For,  if  we  except  the  Syracusans,  there  has  never  been  one  of 
the  Greek  tyrants  who  was  to  be  compared  with  Polycrates  for 
magnificence. 

Thucydides,  I,  13 

Polycrates  also,  the  tyrant  of  Samos,  had  a  powerful  navy  in  the 
reign  of  Cambyses  with  which  he  reduced  many  of  the  islands,  and 
among  them  Rhenea,  which  he  consecrated  to  the  Delian  Apollo. 

Straha,  XIV,  i,  16 

The  tyrannies  were  at  their  height  in  the  time  of  Polycrates  and 
his  brother  Syloson.  The  former  was  distinguished  for  his  good 
fortune,  and  the  possession  of  such  a  degree  of  power  as  made  him 
master  of  the  sea.  It  is  related  as  an  instance  of  his  good  fortune, 
that  having  purposely  thrown  into  the  sea  his  ring,  which  was  of 
great  value  both  on  account  of  the  stone  and  the  engraving,  a  short 
time  afterwards  a  fisherman  caught  the  fish  which  had  swallowed 
it,  and  on  cutting  the  fish  open,  the  ring  was  discovered.  When 
the  king  of  Egypt  was  informed  of  this,  he  declared,-  it  is  said, 
with  a  prophetic  spirit,  that  Polycrates,  who  had  been  elevated  to 
such  a  height  of  prosperity,  w^ould  soon  end  his  life  unfortunately  ; 
and  this  was  actually  the  case,  for  he  was  taken  by  the  Persian 
satrap  by  stratagem,  and  crucified.  Anacreon,  the  lyric  poet,  was 
his  contemporary,  and  all  his  poetry  abounds  with  the  praise  of 
Polycrates. 

1  On  sea  power  in  the  /Egean,  see  J.  L.  IMyres,  "On  the  '  List  of  Thalassocracies '  in 
Eusebius,"  y<'«"«rt'/  of  Hellenic  Studies,  1906,  pp.  84-130;  J.  R.  Fotheringham,  in  /.  H.  S., 
1907,  pp.  75-89;  Myres,  in/.  H.  S.,  1907,  pp.  123-130. 


-JO,  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

It  is  said  that  in  his  time  Pythagoras,  observing  the  growing 
tyranny,  left  the  city,  and  travelled  to  Egypt  and  Babylon,  with  a 
view  to  acquire  knowledge.  On  his  return  from  his  travels,  per- 
ceiving that  the  tyranny  still  prevailed,  he  set  sail  for  Italy,  and 
there  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

So  much  respecting  Polycrates, 

2.  TEOS 
Strabo,  XIV,  i,  30 

Teos  is  situated  upon  a  peninsula,  and  has  a  port.    Anacreon, 

the  lyric  poet,  was  a  native  of  this  place  ;  in  his  time,  the  Teians, 

unable  to  endure  the  insults  and  injuries  of  the  Persians,  abandoned 

Teos,  and  removed  to  Abdera,  whence  orignated  the  verse  — 

Abdera,  the  beautiful  colony  of  the  Teians. 
Some  of  them  returned  in  after-times  to  their  own  country. 

Anacreon^  Frag.  28 

Having  thrown  away  my  shield  by  the  banks  of  a  fair-flowing 
river. 

3.  MITYLENE 

The  following  passages  will  indicate  some  of  Mitylene's  claims 
to  fame.  Among  the  poems  or  fragments  of  Sappho  there  is  none 
of  political  interest,  so  that  Alcaeus  is  our  chief  source  for  condi- 
tions at  that  time. 

These  passages  show  his  sober  reflections  on  conditions,  the 
Ship  of  State  having  served  as  a  literary  figure  continuously  ever 
since ;  his  unbridled  enthusiasm  at  a  tyrant's  death  ;  his  scathing 
criticism  of  those  he  dislikes  ;  his  appreciative  admiration  for  a 
valiant  adventurer. 

Strabo,  XIII,  ii,  2 

Mitylene  has  two  harbours ;  of  which  the  southern  is  a  closed 
harbour  for  triremes,  and  capable  of  holding  50  vessels.  The 
northern  harbour  is  large,  and  deep,  and  protected  by  a  mole.    In 


EARLY  TYRANNY  7 1 

front  of  both  lies  a  small  island,  which  contains  a  part  of  the  city. 
Mitylene  is  well  provided  with  everything. 

It  formerly  produced ,  celebrated  men,  as  Pittacus,  one  of  the 
Seven  Wise  Men  ;  Alcaeus  the  poet,  and  his  brother  Antimenidas, 
who,  according  to  Alcaeus,  when  fighting  on  the  side  of  the  Baby- 
lonians, achieved  a  great  exploit,  and  extricated  them  from  their 
danger  by  killing 

A  valiant  warrior,  the  king's  wrestler,  who  was  four  cubits  in  height. 

Contemporary  with  these  persons  flourished  Sappho,  an  extraordi- 
nary woman  ;  for  at  no  period  within  memory  has  any  woman  been 
known  at  all  to  be  compared  to  her  in  poetry. 

At  this  period  Mitylene  was  ruled  by  many  tyrants,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  dissensions  among  the  citizens.  These  dissensions 
are  the  subject  of  the  poems  of  Alcaeus  called  Stasiotica  (the  Sedi- 
tions). One  of  these  tyrants  was  Pittacus  :  Alcaeus  inveighed 
against  him  as  well  as  against  Myrsilus,  Melanchrus,  the  Clean- 
actidae,  and  some  others  ;  nor  was  he  himself  clear  from  the  im- 
putation of  favouring  these  political  changes.  Pittacus  himself 
employed  monarchical  power  to  dissolve  the  despotism  of  the  many, 
but,  having  done  this,  he  restored  the  independence  of  the  city. 

Diogenes  Laertius,  Life  of  Pittacus,  \-\\ 

Pittacus  was  a  native  of  Mitylene,  and  son  of  Hyrradius,  But 
Duris  says,  that  his  father  was  a  Thracian.  He,  in  union  with  the 
brothers  of  Alcasus,  put  down  Melanchrus  the  tyrant  of  Lesbos. 
And  in  the  battle  which  took  place  between  the  Athenians  and 
Mitylenasans  on  the  subject  of  the  district  of  Achilis,  he  was  the 
Mitylenasan  general ;  the  Athenian  commander  being  Phr)'non,  a 
Pancratiast,  who  had  gained  the  victory  at  Olympia.  Pittacus 
agreed  to  meet  him.  in  single  combat,  and  having  a  net  under  his 
shield,  he  entangled  Phrynon  without  his  being  aware  of  it  before- 
hand, and  so,  having  killed  him,  he  preserved  the  district  in  dis- 
pute to  his  countrymen.  But  Apollodorus,  in  his  Chronicles,  says, 
that  subsequently,  the  Athenians  had  a  trial  with  the  Mitylenaeans 
about  the  district,  and  that  the  cause  was  submitted  to  Periander, 
who  decided  it  in  favour  of  the  Athenians. 


^2  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

In  consequence  of  this  victory  the  Mitylenaeans  held  Pittacus 
in  the  greatest  honour,  and  committed  the  supreme  power  into  his 
hands.  And  he  held  it  for  ten  years,  and  then,  when  he  had 
brought  the  city  and  constitution  into  good  order,  he  resigned  the 
government.  And  he  lived  ten  years  after  that,  and  the  Mityle- 
naeans assigned  him  an  estate,  which  he  consecrated  to  the  God, 
and  to  this  day  it  is  called  the  Pittacian  land. 

Diogenes  Laertius,  Life  of  Pittacus,  X 

There  is  a  letter  of  his  extant,  which  runs  thus  :  — 

Pittacus  to  Crcesus 

You  invite  me  to  come  to  Lydia  in  order  that  I  may  see  your 
riches  ;  but  I,  even  without  seeing  them,  do  not  doubt  that  the 
son  of  Alyattes  is  the  richest  of  monarchs.  But  I  should  get  no 
good  by  going  to  Sardis ;  for  I  do  not  want  gold  myself,  but  what 
I  have  is  sufficient  for  myself  and  my  companions.  Still,  I  will 
come,  in  order  to  become  acquainted  with  you  as  a  hospitable  man. 

Carmina popularia,  43 

"  Grind,  mill,  grind ;  even  Pittacus  grinds,  the  king  of  great 
Mitylene  "  (tr.  Wright,  Greek  Literature,  p.  138). 

Alcceus,  XX 

The  Ship  of  State 

I  know  not  how  to  meet  the  tempest's  rage ! 

Now  here,  now  there  the  furious  billows  form 
And  compass  us.    We  in  the  good  black  ship 
Between  the  opposing  waves  are  hurled,  and  wage 

A  desperate  struggle  with  the  darkling  storm. 
The  straining  sails  grow  clamorous  ;  they  rip, 
And  fly  in  rags.  The  foaming  waters  burst 

Into  the  hold.    The  anchors  loose  their  grip. 
And  now  a  billow,  greater  than  the  first. 

Rushes  upon  us,  fraught  with  perils  grave, 

While  the  ship  plunges  deep  into  the  wave. 


EARLY  TYRANNY  73 

AlccBus,  XXII 

The  Bulwark  of  the  State 

Not  in  hewn  stones,  nor  in  well-fashioned  beams, 
Not  in  the  noblest  of  the  builder's  dreams, 
But  in  courageous  men,  of  purpose  great. 
There  is  the  fortress,  there  the  living  State. 

A/cans,  XIX 

The  Armoury 

The  spacious  hall  in  brazen  splendour  gleams, 

And  all  the  house  in  Ares'  honour  beams. 
The  helmets  glitter ;  high  upon  the  wall 

The  nodding  plumes  of  snowy  horse's  hair, 
Man's  noblest  ornaments,  wave  over  all ; 

And  brightly  gleaming  brazen  greaves  are  there, 
Each  hanging  safe  upon  its  hidden  nail, 
A  sure  defence  against  the  arrowy  hail. 

And  many  coats  of  mail,  and  doublets  stout. 
Breast-plates  of  new-spun  linen,  hollow  shields, 
Well-worn  and  brought  from  foe-abandoned  fields. 

And  broad  Chalcidian  swords  are  stacked  about. 
Bear  well  in  mind  these  tools  of  war,  they  make 
Easy  and  sure  the  work  we  undertake. 

AICCEHS,  XXVI 

The  Death  of  Myrsilus 

Now  for  wine  and  joy  divine, 

Myrsilus  is  dead  ! 
Now  't  is  meet  the  earth  to  beat 
With  quick  and  happy  tread. 

For  Myrsilus  is  dead  ! 

Myrsilus  is  dead  ! 


Alcceus,  XXV 


Against  Myrsilus 

This  man,  this  raving  idiot  here. 

With  rank  supreme  and  power  great, 
Will  quickly  overthrow  the  state. 

Already  is  the  crisis  near. 


74  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

AlccBus,  XXIV 

Against  Pittacus 

This  upstart  Pittacus,  this  base-born  fool, 
They  greet  with  joy,  and  acclamations  great, 

And  set  the  willing  tyrant  up  to  rule 
The  strife-torn  city,  most  unfortunate. 

AlccBus,  XVIII 

To  Antimenidas 

From  ends  of  earth  thou  comest  home. 

Bearing  a  glittering  blade. 
Whose  hilt  of  precious  ivoiy 

With  gold  is  overlaid. 

For  thou  hast  aided  Babylon, 

Achieved  a  glorious  deed. 
And  been  a  bulwark  of  defence 

In  hour  of  sorest  need. 

Yea,  thou  hast  fought  a  goodly  fight. 

Slaying  a  mighty  man 
Who  lacked  of  royal  cubits  five 

Only  a  single  span. 

4.    SIGEUM 
Strabo,  XIII,  i,  38 

Sigeium  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  Athenians,  who  sent 

Phryno,  the  victor  in  the  Olympic  games,  at  the  time  the  Lesbians 

advanced  a  claim  to  nearly  the  whole  Troad.    They  had  indeed 

founded  most  of  the  settlements,  some  of  which  exist  at  present, 

and  others  have  disappeared.    Pittacus  of  Mitylene,  one  of  the 

seven  wise  men,  sailed  to  the  Troad  against  Phryno,  the  Athenian 

general,  and  was  defeated  in  a  pitched  battle,    (It  was  at  this  time 

that  the  poet  Alcaeus,  as  he  himself  says,  when  in  danger  in  some 

battle,  threw  away  his  arms  and  fled.    He  charged  a  messenger 

with  injunctions  to  inform  those  at  home  that  Alcaeus  was  safe, 

but  that  he  did  not  bring  away  his  arms.    These  were  dedicated  by 


EARLY  TYRANNY  75 

the  Athenians  as  an  offering  in  the  temple  of  Athena  Glaucopis.) 
Upon  Phryno's  proposal  to  meet  in  single  combat,  Pittacus  ad- 
vanced with  his  fishing  gear,  enclosed  his  adversary  in  a  net, 
pierced  him  with  his  three-pronged  spear,  and  despatched  him 
with  a  short  sword.  The  war  however  still  continuing,  Periander 
was  chosen  arbitrator  by  both  parties,  and  put  an  end  to  it. 

Alcans,  XXIII 

On  his  Escape  from  Sigeum 

Alcaeus  hath  escaped  the  hand 

Of  Ares  on  the  battle-field  ; 
He  fled  unto  his  native  land. 

But  left  behind  his  sword  and  shield. 
The  Attics  held  the  spoils  divine. 
And  hung  them  in  Athena's  shrine. 

This  inscription  is  particularly  interesting,  as  part  a  is  written 
in  the  Ionic,  part  b  in  the  Attic  dialect,  indicating  that  Sigeum 
had  enough  Athenian  inhabitants  among  its  Ionian  population  to 
make  it  worth  while  to  record  the  dedication  in  their  language. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  8 

Inscription  on  a  Statue-Base 

a.  I  am  the  portrait  of  Phanodicus  of  Proconnesus,  son  of 
Hermocrates.  He  gave  a  crater  and  tripod-stand  and  wine-strainer 
to  the  Sigean  prytaneum. 

b.  I  am  the  portrait  of  Phanodicus  of  Proconnesus,  son  of 
Hermocrates.  I  gave  a  crater  and  tripod-stand  and  wine-strainer 
to  the  Sigean  prytaneum  as  a  remembrance.  And  if  I  am  receiv- 
ing injury,  take  care  of  me,  Sigeans.  Now  yEsopus  made  me,  and 
his  brethren. 

Herodotus,  V,  95 

In  a  battle  which  was  gained  by  the  Athenians,  the  poet  Alcasus 
took  to  flight,  and  saved  himself,  but  lost  his  arms,  which  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  conquerors.  They  hung  them  up  in  the  temple 
of  Athena  at  Sigeum  ;  and  Alcaeus  made  a  poem,  describing  his 


ye  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

misadventure  to  his  friend  Melanippus,  and  sent  it  to  him  at 
Mytilene.  The  Mytilenaeans  and  Athenians  were  reconciled  by 
Periander,  the  son  of  Cypselus,  who  was  chosen  by  both  parties 
as  arbiter  —  he  decided  that  they  should  each  retain  that  of  which 
they  were  at  the  time  possessed  ;  and  Sigeum  passed  in  this  way 
under  the  dominion  of  Athens. 

Herodotus,  V,  94 

Hippias  hereupon  withdrew ;  and  Amyntas  the  Macedonian 
offered  him  the  city  of  Anthemus,  while  the  Thessalians  were  will- 
ing to  give  him  lolcos  :  but  he  would  accept  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other,  preferring  to  go  back  to  Sigeum,  which  city  Pisistratus 
had  taken  by  force  of  arms  from  the  Mytilenaeans.  Pisistratus, 
when  he  became  master  of  the  place,  established  there  as  tyrant 
his  own  natural  son,  Hegesistratus,  whose  mother  was  an  Argive 
woman.  But  this  prince  was  not  allowed  to  enjoy  peaceably  what 
his  father  had  made  over  to  him  ;  for  during  very  many  years  there 
had  been  war  between  the  Athenians  of  Sigeum  and  the  Mytile- 
naeans of  the  city  called  Achilleum. 

Ill,    On  the  Greek  Mainland 

1.  CORINTH 
Herodotus,  V,  92 

The  government  at  Corinth  was  once  an  oligarchy  —  a  single 
race,  called  Bacchiadae,  who  intermarried  only  among  them- 
selves, held  the  management  of  affairs.  Now  it  happened  that 
Amphion,  one  of  these,  had  a  daughter,  named  Labda,  who  was 
lame,  and  whom  therefore  none  of  the  Bacchiadae  would  consent 
to  marry ;  so  she  was  taken  to  wife  by  Action,  son  of  Echecrates, 
a  man  of  the  township  of  Petra,  who  was,  however,  by  descent  of 
the  race  of  the  Lapithae,  and  of  the  house  of  Caeneus.  Action,  as 
he  had  no  child,  either  by  this  wife  or  by  any  other,  went  to  Delphi 
to  consult  the  oracle  concerning  the  matter.  Scarcely  had  he  en- 
tered the  temple  when  the  Pythoness  saluted  him  in  these  words  — 

"  No  one  honours  thee  now,  Action,  worthy  of  honour ;  — 
Labda  shall  soon  be  a  mother  —  her  offspring  a  rock,  that  will  one  day 
Fall  on  the  kingly  race,  and  right  the  city  of  Corinth." 


EARLY  TYRANNY  7y 

By  some  chance  this  address  of  the  oracle  to  Action  came  to  the 
ears  of  the  Bacchiadae,  who  till  then  had  been  unable  to  perceive 
the  meaning  of  another  earlier  prophecy  which  likewise  bore  upon 
Corinth,  and  pointed  to  the  same  event  as  Action's  prediction.  It 
was  the  following  :  — 

"  When  mid  the  rocks  an  eagle  shall  bear  a  carnivorous  lion, 
Mighty  an<5  fierce,  he  shall  loosen  the  limbs  of  many  beneath  them  — 
Brood  ye  well  upon  this,  all  ye  Corinthian  people. 
Ye  who  dwell  by  fair  Peirene,  and  beetling  Corinth." 

The  Bacchiadae  had  possessed  this  oracle  for  some  time  ;  but 
they  were  quite  at  a  loss  to  know  what  it  meant  until  they  heard  the 
response  given  to  Action  ;  then  however  they  at  once  perceived 
its  meaning,  since  the  two  agreed  so  well  together.  Nevertheless, 
though  the  bearing  of  the  first  prophecy  was  now  clear  to  them, 
they  remained  quiet,  being  minded  to  put  to  death  the  child  which 
Action  was  expecting.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  his  wife  was  deliv- 
ered, they  sent  ten  of  their  number  to  the  township  where  Action 
lived,  with  orders  to  make  away  with  the  baby.  So  the  men  came 
to  Petra,  and  went  into  Action's  house,  and  there  asked  if  they 
might  see  the  child  ;  and  Labda,  who  knew  nothing  of  their  pur- 
pose, but  thought  their  inquiries  arose  from  a  kindly  feeling 
towards  her  husband,  brought  the  child,  and  laid  him  in  the  arms 
of  one  of  them.  Now  they  had  agreed  by  the  way  that  whoever 
first  got  hold  of  the  child  should  dash  it  against  the  ground.  It 
happened,  however,  by  a  providential  chance,  that  the  babe,  just 
as  Labda  put  him  into  the  man's  arms,  smiled  in  his  face.  The 
man  saw  the  smile,  and  was  touched  with  pity,  so  that  he  could 
not  kill  it ;  he  therefore  passed  it  on  to  his  next  neighbour,  who 
gave  it  to  a  third  ;  and  so  it  went  through  all  the  ten  without  any 
one  choosing  to  be  the  murderer.  The  mother  received  her  child 
back ;  and  the  men  went  out  of  the  house,  and  stood  near  the  door, 
and  there  blamed  and  reproached  one  another ;  chiefly  however 
accusing  the  man  who  had  first  had  the  child  in  his  arms,  because 
he  had  not  done  as  had  been  agreed  upon.  At  last,  after  much 
time  had  been  thus  spent,  they  resolved  to  go  into  the  house 
again  and  all  take  part  in  the  murder.    But  it  was  fated  that  evil 


78  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

should  come  upon  Corinth  from  the  progeny  of  Action  ;  and  so 
it  chanced  that  Labda,  as  she  stood  near  the  door,  heard  all  that 
the  men  said  to  one  another,  and  fearful  of  their  changing  their 
mind,  and  returning  to  destroy  her  baby,  she  carried  him  off  and 
hid  him  in  what  seemed  to  her  the  most  unlikely  place  to  be  sus- 
pected, viz.,  a  "  cypsel  "  or  corn-bin.  She  knew  that  if  they  came 
back  to  look  for  the  child,  they  would  search  all  her  house  ;  and 
so  indeed  they  did,  but  not  finding  the  child  after  looking  every- 
where, they  thought  it  best  to  go  away,  and  declare  to  those  by 
whom  they  had  been  sent  that  they  had  done  their  bidding.  And 
thus  they  reported  on  their  return  home.  Action's  son  grew  up, 
and,  in  remembrance  of  the  danger  from  which  he  had  escaped, 
was  named  Cypselus,  after  the  corn-bin.  When  he  reached  to 
man's  estate,  he  went  to  Delphi,  and  on  consulting  the  oracle, 
received  a  response  which  was  two-sided.   It  was  the  following  :  — 

"  See  there  comes  to  my  dwelling  a  man  much  favour'd  of  fortune, 
Cypselus,  son  of  Aetion,  and  king  of  the  glorious  Corinth,  — 
He  and  his  children  too,  but  not  his  children's  children." 

Such  was  the  oracle ;  and  Cypselus  put  so  much  faith  in  it  that 
he  forthwith  made  his  attempt,  and  thereby  became  master  of 
Corinth.  Having  thus  got  the  tyranny,  he  showed  himself  a  harsh 
ruler  —  many  of  the  Corinthians  he  drove  into  banishment,  many 
he  deprived  of  their  fortunes,  and  a  still  greater  number  of  their 
lives.  His  reign  lasted  thirty  years,  and  was  prosperous  to  its 
close  ;  insomuch  that  he  left  the  government  to  Periander,  his 
son.  This  prince  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign  was  of  a  milder 
temper  than  his  father  ;  but  after  he  corresponded  by  means  of 
messengers  with  Thrasybulus,  tyrant  of  Miletus,  he  became  even 
more  sanguinary.  On  one  occasion  he  sent  a  herald  to  ask  Thrasy- 
bulus what  mode  of  government  it  was  safest  to  set  up  in  order  to 
rule  with  honour.  Thrasybulus  led  the  messenger  without  the  city, 
and  took  him  into  a  field  of  corn,  through  which  he  began  to  walk, 
while  he  asked  him  again  and  again  concerning  his  coming  from 
Corinth,  ever  as  he  went  breaking  off  and  throwing  away  all  such 
ears  of  corn  as  overtopped  the  rest.  In  this  way  he  went  through 
the  whole  field,  and  destroyed  all  the  best  and  richest  part  of  the 


EARLY  TYRANNY  79 

crop ;  then,  without  a  word,  he  sent  the  messenger  back.  On  the 
return  of  the  man  to  Corinth,  Pcriander  was  eager  to  know  what 
Thrasybulus  had  counselled,  but  the  messenger  reported  that  he 
had  said  nothing ;  and  he  wondered  that  Periander  had  sent  him  to 
so  strange  a  man,  who  seemed  to  have  lost  his  senses,  since  he  did 
nothing  but  destroy  his  own  property.  And  upon  this  he  told  how 
Thrasybulus  had  behaved  at  the  interview.  Periander,  perceiving 
what  the  action  meant,  and  knowing  that  Thrasybulus  advised 
the  destruction  of  all  the  leading  citizens,  treated  his  subjects 
from  this  time  forward  with  the  very  greatest  cruelty.  Where 
Cypselus  had  spared  any,  and  had  neither  put  them  to  death  nor 
banished  them,  Periander  completed  what  his  father  had  left 
unfinished. 

Herodotus^  III,  49 

If  now,  after  the  death  of  Periander,  the  Corinthians  and  Cor- 
cyraeans  had  been  good  friends,  it  is  not  to  be  imagined  that  the 
former  would  ever  have  taken  part  in  the  expedition  against  Samos 
for  such  a  reason  as  this  ;  but  as,  in  fact,  the  two  peoples  have 
always,  ever  since  the  first  settlement  of  the  island,  been  enemies 
to  one  another,  this  outrage  was  remembered,  and  the  Corinthians 
bore  the  Samians  a  grudge  for  it.  Periander  had  chosen  the  youths 
from  among  the  first  families  in  Corcyra,  and  sent  them  a  present 
to  Alyattes,  to  revenge  a  wrong  which  he  had  received.  P^'or  it  was 
the  Corey rgeans  who  began  the  quarrel  and  injured  Periander  by 
an  outrage  of  a  horrid  nature. 

Corinth  was  frequently  in  conflict  with  her  colonies  and  with 
her  neighbors.  We  have  already  seen  trouble  between  Corinth  and 
Corcyra  (see  above,  pp.  41-42),  and  Megara  was  too  near  a  rival  to 
be  neglected.  The  following  inscription  shows  that  the  Megarians 
had  the  best  of  the  struggle  at  this  time. 

The  date  referred  to  is  B.C.  720,  when  the  Bacchiadae  claimed 
suzerainty  over  Megara,  but  the  epigram  is  attributed  to  Simonides 
(B.C.  556-467).  As  it  is  written  in  the  Megarian  dialect  the  form 
Orripus  is  used  for  the  more  familiar  Orsippus. 


8o  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Hicks  and  Hill,  i 

Early  Struggles  between  Megara  and  Corinth,  b.c.  720 

In  obedience  to  a  Delphic  oracle  the  Megarians  set  me  up  here, 
a  conspicuous  monument  to  the  warlike  Orripus,  who  delivered 
and  restored  to  his  fatherland  a  long  line  of  boundaries,  at  a  time 
when  foes  were  annexing  much  land,  and  who  was  the  first  Greek 
to  be  crowned  at  Olympia  naked,  whereas  former  competitors  wore 
girdles  in  the  race  (tr.  Frazer,  Pans.,  Vol.  II,  p.  538), 

2.  SICYON,  CLEISTIIENES 
Herodotus,  VI,  126,  1 28-131 

Afterwards,  in  the  generation  which  followed,  Clisthenes,  king 
of  Sicyon,  raised  the  family  to  still  greater  eminence  among  the 
Greeks  than  even  that  to  which  it  had  attained  before.  For  this 
Clisthenes,  who  was  the  son  of  Aristonymus,  the  grandson  of 
Myron,  and  the  great-grandson  of  Andreas,  had  a  daughter,  called 
Agarista,  whom  he  wished  to  marry  to  the  best  husband  that  he 
could  find  in  the  whole  of  Greece,  At  the  Olympic  games,  there- 
fore, having  gained  the  prize  in  the  chariot-race,  he  caused  public 
proclamation  to  be  made  to  the  following  effect:  —  "Whoever 
among  the  Greeks  deems  himself  worthy  to  become  the  son-in-law 
of  Clisthenes,  let  him  come,  sixty  days  hence,  or,  if  he  will,  sooner, 
to  Sicyon  ;  for  within  a  year's  time,  counting  from  the  end  of  the 
sixty  days,  Clisthenes  will  decide  on  the  man  to  whom  he  shall 
contract  his  daughter."  So  all  the  Greeks  who  were  proud  of  their 
own  merit  or  of  their  country  flocked  to  Sicyon  as  suitors  ;  and 
Clisthenes  had  a  foot-course  and  a  wrestling-ground  made  ready, 
to  try  their  powers.  .   .   . 

Now  when  they  were  all  come,  and  the  day  appointed  had  arrived, 
Clisthenes  first  of  all  inquired  of  each  concerning  his  country  and 
his  family ;  after  which  he  kept  them  with  him  a  year,  and  made 
trial  of  their  manly  bearing,  their  temper,  their  accomplishments, 
and  their  disposition,  sometimes  drawing  them  apart  for  converse, 
sometimes  bringing  them  all  together.  Such  as  were  still  youths 
he  took  with  him  from  time  to  time  to  the  gymnasia ;  but  the 
greatest  trial  of  all  was  at  the  banquet-table.    During  the  whole 


EARLY  TYRANNY  8 1 

period  of  their  stay  he  Hved  with  them  as  I  have  said  ;  and,  further, 
from  first  to  last  he  entertained  them  sumptuously.  Somehow  or 
other  the  suitors  who  came  from  Athens  pleased  him  the  best  of  all ; 
and  of  these  Hippoclides,  Tisander's  son,  was  specially  in  favour, 
partly  on  account  of  his  manly  bearing,  and  partly  also  because  his 
ancestors  were  of  kin  to  the  Corinthian  Cypselids. 

When  at  length  the  day  arrived  which  had  been  fixed  for  the 
espousals,  and  Clisthenes  had  to  speak  out  and  declare  his  choice, 
he  first  of  all  made  a  sacrifice  of  a  hundred  oxen,  and  held  a  ban- 
quet, whereat  he  entertained  all  the  suitors  and  the  whole  people  of 
Sicyon.  After  the  feast  was  ended,  the  suitors  vied  with  each  other 
in  music  and  in  speaking  on  a  given  subject.  Presently,  as  the 
drinking  advanced,  Hippoclides,  who  quite  dumbfoundered  the  rest, 
called  aloud  to  the  flute-player,  and  bade  him  strike  up  a  dance  ; 
which  the  man  did,  and  Hippoclides  danced  to  it.  And  he  fancied 
that  he  was  dancing  excellently  well ;  but  Clisthenes,  who  was 
observing  him,  began  to  misdoubt  the  whole  business.  Then  Hip- 
poclides, after  a  pause,  told  an  attendant  to  bring  in  a  table  ;  and 
when  it  was  brought,  he  mounted  upon  it  and  danced  first  of  all 
some  Laconian  figures,  then  some  Attic  ones  ;  after  which  he  stood 
on  his  head  upon  the  table,  and  began  to  toss  his  legs  about. 
Clisthenes,  notwithstanding  that  he  now  loathed  Hippoclides  for 
a  son-in-law,  by  reason  of  his  dancing  and  his  shamelessness,  still, 
as  he  wished  to  avoid  an  outbreak,  had  restrained  himself  during 
the  first  and  likewise  during  the  second  dance  ;  when,  however,  he 
saw  him  tossing  his  legs  in  the  air,  he  could  no  longer  contain 
himself,  but  cried  out,  "  Son  of  Tisander,  thou  hast  danced  thy 
wife  away  !  "  "  What  does  Hippoclides  care  .-'  "  was  the  other's 
answer.    And  hence  the  proverb  arose. 

Then  Clisthenes  commanded  silence,  and  spake  thus  before 
the  assembled  company  :  - — ■ 

"  Suitors  of  my  daughter,  well  pleased  am  I  with  you  all ;  and  right  willingly, 
if  it  were  possible,  would  I  content  you  all,  and  not  by  making  choice  of  one 
appear  to  put  a  slight  upon  the  rest.  But  as  it  is  out  of  my  power,  seeing 
that  I  have  but  one  daughter,  to  grant  to  all  their  wishes,  I  will  present  to 
each  of  you  whom  I  must  needs  dismiss  a  talent  of  silver,  for  the  honour  that 
you  have  done  me  in  seeking  to  ally  yourselves  with  my  house,  and  for  your 


82  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

long  absence  from  your  homes.  But  my  daughter,  Agarista,  I  betroth  to 
Megacles,  the  son  of  Alcmaeon,  to  be  his  wife,  according  to  the  usage  and 
wont  of  Athens." 

Then  Megacles  expressed  his  readiness ;  and  CHsthenes  had 
the  marriage  solemnized. 

Thus  ended  the  affair  of  the  suitors  ;  and  thus  the  Alcmaeonidae 
came  to  be  famous  throughout  the  whole  of  Greece, 

Hef'odotus,  V,  67-68 

This  king,  when  he  was  at  war  with  Argos,  put  an  end  to  the  con- 
tests of  the  rhapsodists  at  Sicyon,  because  in  the  Homeric  poems 
Argos  and  the  Argives  were  so  constantly  the  theme  of  song.  He 
likewise  conceived  the  wish  to  drive  Adrastus,  the  son  of  Talaus, 
out  of  his  country,  seeing  that  he  was  an  Argive  hero.  For  Adras- 
tus had  a  shrine  at  Sicyon,  which  yet  stands  in  the  market-place  of 
the  town.  Clisthenes  therefore  went  to  Delphi,  and  asked  the  oracle 
if  he  might  expel  Adrastus.  To  this  the  Pythoness  is  reported  to 
have  answered  —  "Adrastus  is  the  Sicyonians'  king,  but  thou  art 
only  a  robber."  So  when  the  god  would  not  grant  his  request,  he 
went  home  and  began  to  think  how  he  might  contrive  to  make 
Adrastus  withdraw  of  his  own  accord.  .  .  . 

Such  were  his  doings  in  the  matter  of  Adrastus.  With  respect 
to  the  Dorian  tribes,  not  choosing  the  Sicyonians  to  have  the  same 
tribes  as  the  Argives,  he  changed  all  the  old  names  for  new  ones ; 
and  here  he  took  special  occasion  to  mock  the  Sicyonians,  for  he 
drew  his  new  names  from  the  words  "pig,"  and  "ass,"  adding 
thereto  the  usual  tribe-endings ;  only  in  the  case  of  his  own  tribe 
he  did  nothing  of  the  sort,  but  gave  them  a  name  drawn  from  his 
own  kingly  office.  For  he  called  his  own  tribe  the  Archelai,  or 
Rulers,  while  the  others  he  named  Hyatae,  or  Pig-folk,  Oneatae, 
or  Ass-folk,  and  Chcereatae,  or  Swine-folk.  The  Sicyonians  kept 
these  names,  not  only  during  the  reign  of  Clisthenes,  but  even 
after  his  death,  by  the  space  of  sixty  years  :  then,  however,  they 
took  counsel  together,  and  changed  to  the  well-known  names  of 
Hyllaeans,  Pamphylians,  and  Dymanatae,  taking  at  the  same  time, 
as  a  fourth  name,  the  title  of  yEgialeans,  from  ^Egialeus  the  son 
of  Adrastus. 


EARLY  TYRANNY  83 

Pausatiias,  X,  xxxvii,  4 

So  the  Amphictyons  resolved  to  make  war  on  the  Cirrhaeans, 
and  they  appointed  Clisthenes,  tyrant  of  Sicyon,  to  the  command, 
and  fetched  Solon  from  Athens  to  give  them  his  advice.  When 
they  inquired  how  the  victory  would  go,  the  Pythian  priestess  gave 
them  this  answer  :  — 

"  Ye  shall  not  take  and  cast  down  the  towers  of  this  city, 
Till  on  my  precinct  blue-eyed  Amphitrite's 
Wave,  plashing  o'er  the  darkling  deep,  shall  break." 

Hence  Solon  persuaded  them  to  consecrate  the  territory  of 
Cirrha  to  the  god,  in  order  that  Apollo's  precinct  might  be 
bounded  by  the  sea. 

3.  MEGARA,  POLITICAL  REVOLUTION 
Aristotle,  Politics,  VIII,  5 

It  was  much  in  the  same  way  that  the  Democracy  at  Megara 
was  overthrown.  The  demagogues  in  order  to  have  an  opportunity 
of  confiscation  ejected  large  numbers  of  the  nobles  from  the  State, 
until  they  had  swelled  the  ranks  of  the  exiles  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  returned  home,  conquered  the  Democrats  in  a  pitched 
battle  and  established  the  Oligarchy. 

More  than  one  revolution  seems  to  have  occurred  here. 
Theognis  (whose  date  is  a  disputed  one,  but  who  appears  to  be 
a  contemporary  source)  moralizes  at  length  in  a  communication 
to  his  young  friend,  Cyrnus. 

He  had  evidently  been  exiled  and  deprived  of  his  property,  and 
was  thus  embittered  against  the  whole  body  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
nobles  and  base-born  alike. 

Maxims  of  Theognis,  39-68 

Cyrnus,  this  city  is  pregnant :  but  I  fear  that  it  will  bring  forth 
a  man  to  be  a  chastiser  of  our  evil  violence.  For  the  citizens  here 
on  their  part  are  as  yet  sober-minded  :  but  the  leaders,  have  turned 
themselves  so  as  to  fall  into  much  worthlessness.  No  city  yet, 
Cyrnus,  have  good  men  ruined  ;  but  when  it  pleases  the  bad  to 


84  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

be  insolent,  and  they  corrupt  the  commons,  and  give  judgments 
in  favour  of  the  unjust,  for  the  sake  of  private  gains  and  power, 
expect  that  that  city  will  not  long  be  kept  tranquil,  even  though 
now  it  is  settled  in  much  calm,  when  these  gains  shall  have  become 
dear  to  the  ignoble  men,  coming  along  with  public  hurt.  For  from 
these  is  sedition,  and  civil  bloodshed  of  men,  and  to  a  state  such 
as  this  a  monarch  would  never  be  pleasing. 

Cyrnus,  this  state  is  still  a  state  indeed  :  but  its  people  truly  are 
other,  who  aforetime  knew  nor  rights  nor  laws,  but  were  wont  to 
wear  out  goat-skins  about  their  sides,  and  to  inhabit  this  city,  like 
stags,  without  the  walls.  And  now,  son  of  Polypas,  they  are  noble  : 
but  they  who  were  bettermost  of  yore,  now  are  of  low  degree  :  who 
can  endure  to  look  on  these  things  ?  They  deceive  also  one  another, 
laughing  one  at  the  other,  conscious  of  the  sentiments  neither  of 
bad  nor  good.  Son  of  Polypas,  get  none  of  these  citizens  as  a 
friend,  with  thine  whole  heart,  for  the  sake  of  any  advantage  :  but 
seem  indeed  to  be  friend  to  all  in  tongue,  yet  associate  with  none 
of  them  in  any  serious  matter  at  all.  For  you  will  learn  the  minds 
of  wretched  men,  that  in  their  deeds  there  is  no  reliance.  But 
they  have  loved  tricks,  and  deceits,  and  crafts  in  suchwise  as  men 
no  longer  in  a  sound  condition. 

Maxims  of  Theognis,  283-292 

Relying  on  none  of  the  citizens,  advance  one  step,  trusting 
neither  oath  nor  covenant,  not  even  if  a  man,  wishing  to  give 
pledges,  chooses  to  give  Zeus,  the  supreme  king  of  immortals,  as 
his  surety.  For  verily  in  a  city  so  malignantly  blaming  as  this, 
nothing  pleases,  and  according  as  any  one  does,  so  they  are  called 
far  the  more  senseless.  But  now  the  ills  of  the  well-born  are  good 
things  to  the  mean  of  men,  and  become  a  law  to  the  devious.  For 
a  sense  of  shame  hath  perished  :  impudence  and  insolence,  having 
mastered  justice,  possess  the  whole  earth. 

Maxims  of  Theognis,  337-350 

May  Zeus  grant  me  both  requital  of  my  friends,  who  love  me, 
and  that  I  may  be  more  powerful  than  my  foes.  And  so  should  I 
have  the  character  of  being  a  god  among  men,  if  the  fate  of  death 
should  overtake  me,  when  I  had  recompensed  them.   But,  O  Zeus, 


EARLY  TYRANNY  85 

accomplish  me,  thou  Olympian  god,  a  seasonable  prayer,  grant  me 
to  experience  in  return  for  ills  some  good  also.  But  oh  might  I 
die,  unless  I  find  some  cessation  from  evil  cares,  and  if  thou  givest 
but  sorrows  in  return  for  sorrows.  For  thus  is  my  lot ;  and  there 
does  not  appear  to  me  a  means  of  vengeance  on  the  men  who 
perforce  have  plundered  and  possess  my  property ;  but  like  a  dog 
I  have  crossed  a  mountain-torrent,  having  shaken  off  everything 
in  the  rain-swollen  stream.  Whose  black  blood  may  it  be  mine  to 
drink  :  and  oh  might  the  good  Genius  aid  me,  who  would  accom- 
plish these  things  to  my  mind. 

Maxwis  of  Theognis,  367-370 

I  cannot  understand  the  mind  of  the  citizens,  which  they  enter- 
tain :  for  neither  if  I  do  them  good,  nor  ill,  do  I  please  them  :  and 
many  blame  me,  alike  the  base-born  and  the  well-born  :  but  none 
of  the  unwise  can  imitate  me. 

Maxifns  of  Theognis,  667-680 

If  I  had  wealth,  Simonides,  even  such  as  I  was  acquainted  with, 
I  should  not  be  vexed  at  associating  with  the  noble.  But  now  they 
(riches)  pass  me  by,  though  I  knew  them,  and  I  am  mute  through 
poverty,  though  still  knowing  better  than  many.  Wherefore  we  are 
borne  on  now,  having  pulled  down  our  white  sails,  from  the  Melian 
Sea,  through  murky  gloom  :  but  they  do  not  choose  to  bale  the 
ship,  and  the  sea  surmounts  both  the  vessel's  sides,  whereby  with 
great  difficulty  any  one  saves  himself  :  yet  the  sailors  are  slumber- 
ing, and  have  made  the  pilot,  good  though  he  was,  cease  from  his 
tvork,  the  pilot  who  used  to  watch  over  it  understandingly.  By 
force  they  plunder  property,  order  is  upset,  and  no  longer  is  there 
an  equal  distribution  in  common  :  but  the  porters  bear  rule,  and 
the  mean  are  above  the  noble.  I  fear  lest  haply  the  waves  should 
ingulf  the  ship. 

Maxims  of  Theognis,  885-894 

May  peace  and  wealth  possess  the  state,  that  I  may  revel  with 
others,  for  I  love  not  baneful  war.  Neither  do  thou  too  much  lend 
an  ear,  when  the  herald  shouts  loud  and  far :    for  we  are  not 


86  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

fighting  for  our  fatherland.  Yet  'tis  disgraceful,  when  present 
and  mounted  on  fleet-footed  steeds,  not  to  look  upon  tearful  war. 
Alas  me,  for  our  cowardice !  Cerinthus  is  undone,  and  the  goodly 
vineyard  of  Lelantum  is  stript.  The  noble  flee  :  the  mean  admin- 
ister the  state  :  would  Zeus  might  destroy  the  Cypselizing  race ! 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Contemporary  Sources  :  Fragments  of  Anacreon  ;  Alcseus  ;  Theognis  ;  Car- 
mina  Popularia ;  Inscriptions. 

Derivative  Sources:  Aristotle,  Politics,  VI,  lo;  VIII,  12  ;  VIII,  5;  Diogenes 
Laertius,  Lives  of  the  Philosophers;  Herodotus,  III,  39,  54-56,  60,  122,  125; 
V,  95;  V,  92;  III,  49;  VI,  126,  128-131  ;  V,  67-68;  Pausanias,  II,  ix,  6;  Plato, 
Laws,  III  (p.  73,  Jowett)  ;  Strabo,  XIV,  i,  16;  i,  30;  XIII,  ii,  2-3;  XIII,  i,  38; 
VIII,  iii,  30;  Thucydides,  I,  13;  III,  104. 

Modern  Authorities:  Bury,  History,  chap,  iii,  §§6-7;  Botsford,  History, 
chap,  iv ;  Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  Band  I,  Kap.  iii,  §  13;  Oman,  History, 
chap,  x;  Holm,  History,  Vol.  I,  chap,  xxii ;  Abbott,  History,  Vol.  I,  chap,  xii; 
Curtius,  History,  Vol.  I,  Bk.  II,  chap,  i;  Grote,  History,  Vol.  Ill,  chap,  ix; 
Fowler,  The  City-State,  chap,  v ;  Mahaffy,  Problems,  chap,  iv ;  E.  Harrison, 
Theognis  (good  on  Megara  in  the  sixth  century) ;  P.  Ure,  "  The  Origin  of  the 
Tyrannis,"  in/.  H.  S.,  1906,  pp.  131-142. 


CHAPTER  V 

EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS 

Argos  —  Early  power  under  Pheidon  —  Troubles  with  Sparta  —  Olympia  —  Struggle 
between  Elis  and  Pisa — Sparta — Messenian  wars  —  Wars  against  Argos  and 
Tegea  —  The  Spartan  constitution  —  Population  —  Lycurgus  and  his  work  —  The 
senate  —  The  ephors  —  The  kings  —  The  people,  property,  and  discipline  — 
Education — Common  mess 

I.    Argos 

According  to  literary  accounts  Argos  played  the  leading  part  in 
Peloponnesus  before  Sparta  reached  a  prominent  position.  The 
constant  rivalry  between  the  two  is  well  marked  throughout 
their  history. 

1.  EARLY  POWER  UNDER  PHEIDON 
Strabo,  VIII,  iii,  7,7, 

Pheidon  the  Argive  was  the  tenth  in  descent  from  Temenus; 
and  the  most  powerful  prince  of  his  age ;  he  was  the  inventor  of 
the  weights  and  measures  called  Pheidonian,  and  stamped  money, 
silver  in  particular.  He  recovered  the  whole  inheritance  of  Teme- 
nus, which  had  been  severed  into  many  portions.  He  attacked 
also  the  cities  which  Hercules  had  formerly  taken,  and  claimed 
the  privilege  of  celebrating  the  games  which  Hercules  had  estab- 
lished, and  among  these  the  Olympian  games.  He  entered  their 
country  by  force  and  celebrated  the  games,  for  the  Eleians  had  no 
army  to  prevent  it,  as  they  were  in  a  state  of  peace,  and  the  rest 
were  oppressed  by  his  power.  The  Eleians  however  did  not  sol- 
emnly inscribe  in  their  records  this  celebration  of  the  games,  but 
on  this  occasion  procured  arms,  and  began  to  defend  themselves. 
The  Lacedaemonians  also  afforded  assistance,  either  because  they ' 
were  jealous  of  the  prosperity,  which  was  the  effect  of  the  peaceful 
state  of  the  Eleians,  or  because  they  supposed  that  they  should  have 

87 


88  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

the  aid  of  the  Eleians  in  destroying  the  power  of  Pheidon,  who 
had  deprived  them  of  the  sovereignty  {rjyeiMoviav)  of  Peloponnesus, 
which  they  before  possessed.  They  succeeded  in  their  joint  attempt 
to  overthrow  Pheidon,  and  the  Eleians  with  this  assistance  obtained 
possession  of  Pisatis  and  Triphylia.^ 

Herodotus,  VI,  127 

From  the  Peloponnese  came  several  —  Leocedes,  son  of  that 
Pheidon,  king  of  the  Argives,  who  established  weights  and  measures 
throughout  the  Peloponnese,  and  was  the  most  insolent  of  all  the 
Grecians  —  the  same  who  drove  out  the  Elean  directors  of  the 
games,  and  himself  presided  over  the  contests  at  Olympia  .  .  . 

2.  TROUBLES  WITH   SPARTA 
Pausanias,  II,  xx,  i 

From  the  time  that  the  Lacedaemonians  first  turned  their  arms 
against  the  Argives,  there  was  no  cessation  of  hostilities  till  Philip, 
the  son  of  Amyntas,  compelled  them  to  stay  within  their  original 
boundaries.  Before  that  time,  if  the  Lacedaemonians  were  not 
meddling  outside  Peloponnese,  they  were  sure  to  be  encroaching 
on  the  Argive  territory  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  when  the  Lacedae- 
monians were  occupied  with  a  foreign  war,  it  was  the  turn  of  the 
Argives  to  retaliate  on  them. 

Strabo,  VIII,  vi,  18 

Among  the  cities  of  the  Peloponnesus,  the  most  celebrated  were, 
and  are  at  this  time,  Argos  and  Sparta,  and  as  their  renown  is 
spread  everywhere,  it  is  not  necessary  to  describe  them  at  length, 
for  if  we  did  so,  we  should  seem  to  repeat  what  is  said  by  all 
writers. 

Anciently,  Argos  was  the  most  celebrated,  but  afterwards  the 
Lacedaemonians  obtained  the  superiority,  and  continued  to  maintain 
their  independence,  except  during  some  short  interval,  when  they 
experienced  a  reverse  of  fortune. 

1  The  date  of  Pheidon  has  given  rise  to  much  discussion.  (See  Bury,  History,  p.  860.) 
He  is  generally  credited  with  the  establishment  of  weights  and  measures.  (See  Hill, 
"  Historical  Greek  Coins,"  p.  4,  on  the  origin  of  the  mistaken  idea  that  Pheidon  invented 
coinage.) 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS  89 

n.    Olympia 
STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  ELIS  AND  PISA 

PausaJiias,  VI,  xxii,  2-4 

They  say  that  the  founder  of  Pisa  was  Pisus,  son  of  Perieres, 
son  of  /Eolus.  The  people  of  Pisa  brought  disaster  on  themselves 
by  their  enmity  to  the  Eleans,  and  by  seeking  to  wrest  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Olympic  games  from  the  latter.  For  in  the  eighth 
Olympiad  they  called  in  the  Argive  Phidon,  the  most  high-handed 
of  Greek  tyrants,  and  held  the  games  jointly  with  him.  In  the 
thirty-fourth  Olympiad,  the  people  of  Pisa  under  their  king  Panta- 
leon,  son  of  Omphalion,  collected  an  army  from  the  neighbouring 
districts,  and  held  the  Olympic  festival  instead  of  the  Eleans. 
These  Olympiads,  together  with  the  hundred  and  fourth  (in  which 
the  festival  was  held  by  the  Arcadians)  are  called  Non-Olympiads 
by  the  Eleans,  who  do  not  register  them  in  the  list  of  Olympiads. 
In  the  forty-eighth  Olympiad,  Damophon,  son  of  Pantaleon,  gave 
the  Eleans  ground  to  suspect  that  he  was  plotting  against  them, 
so  they  invaded  the  territory  of  Pisa,  but  by  prayers  and  oaths  he 
persuaded  them  to  return  home  without  doing  anything.  When 
Pyrrhus,  son  of  Pantaleon,  succeeded  his  brother  Damophon  on 
the  throne,  the  people  of  Pisa  voluntarily  declared  war  on  the 
Eleans.  In  this  revolt  they  were  joined  by  the  people  of  Macistus 
and  Scillus  (both  towns  in  Triphylia),  and  by  the  people  of  Dyspon- 
tium,  another  vassal  state.  The  Dyspontians  had  been  on  very 
friendly  terms  with  the  Pisans,  and  had  a  tradition  that  their 
founder  Dysponteus  was  a  son  of  CEnomaus.  But  Pisa  and  all  the 
towns  that  sided  with  it  in  the  war  were  destroyed  by  the  Eleans. 

The  following  treaty  is  the  earliest  extant  document  of  this 
class  between  Greek  communities. 

Hicks  atid  Hill,  9 

Treaty  beweex  Eleiaxs  axd  Heraians,  b.c.  550-500 

This  is  the  covenant  between  the  Eleians  and  the  Heraians. 
There  shall  be  alliance  for  a  hundred  years  :  and  this  (year)  shall 
begin  (it)  :  and  if  either  need  help,  whether  of  word  or  deed,  they 


90  READINGS  IN  GREER  HISTORY 

shall  stand  by  one  another,  in  all  other  affairs,  and  in  respect  of 
warfare  :  and  if  they  stand  not  by  each  other,  they  who  have  so 
offended  (Zeus)  shall  pay  a  talent  of  silver  to  Olympian  Zeus,  to 
be  confiscated  to  him.  And  if  any  one  shall  injure  this  inscrip- 
tion, whether  private  man,  or  magistrate,  or  community,  (the 
offender)  shall  be  liable  to  the  sacred  fine  here  written.  (Tr.  Hicks 
and  Hill,  p.  1 1) 

HI.    Sparta 

1.  MESSENIAN  WARS 

After  the  decline  of  Argos,  Sparta  was  free  to  attack  her  neigh- 
bors the  Messenians.  This  struggle  lasted  for  many  years,  break- 
ing forth  at  intervals  into  war,  and  the  Messenians  were  treated 
with  the  utmost  severity  by  their  victorious  foes.  The  exact  dates 
of  the  wars  have  been  the  subject  of  much  controversy.^ 

Pausanias,  IV,  iv,  4 

In  the  next  generation  the  mutual  hatred  of  Lacedaemon  and 
Messenia  came  to  a  head.  At  Lacedaemon  the  king  of  the  one 
^  house  was  Alcamenes,  son  of  Teleclus,  and  the  king  of  the  other 
was  Theopompus,  son  of  Nicander,  son  of  Charillus,  son  of  Poly- 
dectes,  son  of  Eunomus,  son  of  Prytanis,  son  of  Eurypon  ;  while 
the  kings  of  Messenia  were  Antiochus  and  Androcles,  sons  of 
Phintas.  The  Lacedaemonians  began  the  war,  for  which,  bent  as 
they  were  on  picking  a  quarrel,  and  resolved  on  war  in  any  case, 
the  occasion  that  offered  itself  was  not  only  sufficient,  but  in  the 
highest  degree  specious,  although,  if  their  temper  had  been  more 
pacific,  it  might  have  been  removed  by  arbitration. 

Pausanias,  IV,  vi,  5 

...  we  know  that  Theopompus  did  not  die  before  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war,  neither  in  battle  nor  in  his  bed.    In  fact,  it 

1  See  Frazer's  notes  on  Pausanias,  IV,  xv,  i,  and  V,  xxiv,  3,  the  latter  of  which  concerns 
an  inscription  on  the  basis  of  a  statue  of  Zeus  at  Olympia  dedicated  by  the  Lacedaemonians 
after  a  victory  over  the  Messenians  : 

'"  Receive,  O  prince,  son  of  Cronus,  Olympian  Zeus,  a  fair  image. 
And  be  propitious  to  the  Lacedaemonians." 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS  91 

was   this  very  Theopompus  who  put  an  end  to  the  war,   as  is 
proved  by  the  elegiacs  of  Tyrtseus  :  — 

To  our  God-beloved  king  Theopompus, 
Through  whom  we  took  spacious  Messene. 

Pausanias,  IV,  xiii,  4 

After  that  they  held  out  for  about  five  months,  but  towards  the 
end  of  the  year  they  abandoned  Ithome,  having  maintained  the 
war  for  twenty  years,  as  the  poet  Tyrtaeus  says  :  — 

But  in  the  twentieth  left  they  the  fat  fields. 

And  fled  from  the  mighty  Ithomian  mountains, 

Paiisanias,  IV,  xiv,  4 

What  they  did  to  the  Messenian  people  was  this.  In  the  first 
place,  they  made  them  swear  that  they  would  never  revolt  nor 
commit  any  other  seditious .  act.  In  the  second  place,  though  no 
fixed  tax  was  laid  on  them,  they  had  to  bring  to  Sparta  the  half 
of  the  produce  of  their  farms.  It  was  also  stipulated  that  at  the 
funerals  of  the  Spartan  kings  and  nobles,  men  and  women  should 
come  from  Messenia  dressed  in  black  ;  and  a  penalty  was  imposed 
for  transgressions  of  the  rule.  Tyrtaeus  refers  in  some  verses  to 
the  despiteful  punishments  which  the  Lacedaemonians  inflicted  on 
the  Messenians  :  — • 

Like  asses  galled  with  heavy  loads, 
To  their  masters  bringing  by  doleful  necessity 
Half  of  all  the  fruit  that  the  tilled  land  yields. 

That  they  were  also  obliged  to  join  in  mourning  is  shown  by  the 
following  passage  :  — 

Themselves  and  their  wives  alike  bewailing  their  masters. 
Whene'er  death's  baneful  lot  has  fallen  on  any. 

Pausanias,  IV,  xv,  i 

When  all  the  preparations  for  the  war  were  made,  and  the  allies 
showed  themselves  heartier  than  had  been  expected,  for  the  hatred 
of  the  Argives  and  Arcadians  for  the  Lacedaemonians  was  now 
kindled  into  a  flame,  the  Messenians  revolted  in  the  thirty-eighth 
year  after  the  taking  of  Ithome,  it  being  the  fourth  year  of  the 


92  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

twenty-third  Olympiad,  in  which  Icarus  of  Hyperesia  won  the  foot- 
race. At  Athens  the  annual  archons  were  already  instituted,  and 
Tlesias  was  the  archon.  As  to  the  Lacedaemonian  kings  at  the 
time,  Tyrtseus  does  not  mention  their  names,  but  Rhianus  in  his 
epic  represents  Leotychides  as  king  at  the  time  of  this  war.  In 
this  I  cannot  possibly  agree  with  him.  And  though  Tyrtasus  does 
not  name,  yet  he  may  be  supposed  to  indicate  the  kings  in  the 
following  passage.    He  has  these  verses  on  the  former  war  :  — 

About  it  they  fought  nineteen  years 
Ceaselessly,  ever  keeping  up  a  patient  spirit, 
They  the  spearmen,  our  fathers'  fathers. 

J^ai/sa/iias,  IV,  xvi,  3 

But  Tyrtseus  did  what  he  could  to  change  their  resolution  by 
singing  his  verses,  and  he  enrolled  Helots  in  the  regiments  to 
replace  the  fallen. 

J-'ausanujs,  IV,  xxiii,  2 

Ira  was  taken  and  the  second  war  between  the  Lacedaemonians 
and  the  Messenians  was  concluded  when  Autosthenes  was  archon 
at  Athens,  in  the  first  year  of  the  twenty-eighth  Olympiad,  in  which 
Chionis  the  Laconian  was  victorious, 

Pausanias  IV,  xxiv,  2 

When  the  Lacedaemonians  had  made  themselves  masters  of 
Messenia  they  divided  it  all,  except  the  territory  of  Asine,  amongst 
themselves ;  only  they  gave  Mothone  to  the  Nauplians,  who  had 
lately  been  expelled  from  Nauplia  by  the  Argives. 

Pausanias^  IV,  v,  2 

A  Lacedaemonian  embassy  now  repaired  to  Messenia  and  de- 
manded the  surrender  of  Polychares.  The  Messenian  kings 
answered  the  ambassadors  that  they  would  consult  with  the  people 
and  report  their  decision  to  Sparta,  So  when  the  embassy  had 
taken  its  leave  the  kings  convened  an  assembly  of  the  burghers. 
Opinions  were  very  much  divided,  Androcles  was  for  surrendering 
Polychares  as  a  criminal  of  the  deepest  dye.  He  was  opposed  by 
Antiochus,  who  insisted  especially  how  pitiful  it  would  be  if  Poly- 
chares should  have  to  suffer  under  the  eyes  of  Euaephnus,  and  he 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS  93 

detailed  all  the  torments  he  would  have  to  endure.  At  last  the 
debate  waxed  so  hot  that  both  sides  flew  to  arms.  But  the  fight 
did  not  last  long,  for  Antiochus'  side  far  outnumbered  Androcles' 
side,  and  soon  knocked  him  and  his  chief  supporters  on  the  head. 
Antiochus  now  reigned  alone,  and  sent  to  Sparta  offering  to  leave 
the  case  to  the  courts  I  have  mentioned.  To  the  bearers  of  this 
letter  the  Lacedaemonians  are  said  to  have  vouchsafed  no  reply. 

Strabo,  VHI,  iv,  10 

There  were  frequent  wars  (between  the  Lacedaemonians  and 
Messenians)  on  account  of  the  revolts  of  the  Messenians.  Tyrtaeus 
mentions,  in  his  poems,  that  their  first  subjugation  was  in  the  time 
of  their  grandfathers  ;  the  second,  when  in  conjunction  with  their 
allies  the  Eleians  (Arcadians),  Argives,  and  Pisatae,  they  revolted ; 
the  leader  of  the  Arcadians  was  Aristocrates,  king  of  Orchomenus, 
and  of  the  Pisatae,  Pantaleon,  son  of  Omphalion.  In  this  war, 
Tyrtaeus  says,  he  himself  commanded  the  Lacedaemonian  army, 
for  in  his  elegiac  poem,  entitled  Eunomia,  he  says  he  came  from 
Erineum  ;  "for  Zeus  himself,  the  son  of  Cronus,  and  husband  of 
Hera  with  the  beautiful  crown,  gave  this  city  to  the  Heracleidae, 
with  whom  we  left  the  windy  Erineum,  and  arrived  at  the  spacious 
island  of  Pelops."  Wherefore  we  must  either  invalidate  the  au- 
thority of  the  elegiac  verses,  or  we  must  disbelieve  Philochorus,  and 
Callisthenes,  and  many  other  writers,  who  say  that  he  came  from 
Athens,  or  Aphidnae,  at  the  request  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  whom 
an  oracle  had  enjoined  to  receive  a  commander  from  the  Athenians. 

The  second  war  then  occurred  in  the  time  of  Tyrtaeus.  But  they 
mention  a  third,  and  even  a  fourth  war,  in  which  the  Messenians 
were  destroyed. 

Like  Callinus  and  Archilochus,  Tyrtaeus  inspired  his  countrymen 
to  valorous  deeds  in  war.  The  following  is  a  fragment  of  what  was 
probably  a  marching  song  when  going  into  battle. 

TyrtcBus,  Frag.  15  (tr.  Wright,  Greek  Literature,  p.  76) 

Come,  sons  of  Sparta,  mother  of  heroes,  come,  sons  of  Sparta's 
men  ;  forward  with  your  shield  on  the  left ;  be  brave  and  cast  your 
spear  ;  take  no  thought  for  your  life  ;  that  is  not  the  way  of  Sparta. 


94  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

2.  WARS  AGAINST  ARGOS  AND  TEGEA 
Herodotus^  I,  82 

It  chanced,  however,  that  the  Spartans  were  themselves  just  at 
this  time  engaged  in  a  quarrel  with  the  Argives  about  a  place  called 
Thyrea,  which  was  within  the  limits  of  Argolis,  but  had  been  seized 
on  by  the  Lacedaemonians.  Indeed,  the  whole  country  westward,  as 
far  as  Cape  Malea,  belonged  once  to  the  Argives,  and  not  only  that 
entire  tract  upon  the  mainland,  but  also  Cythera,  and  the  other 
islands.  The  Argives  collected  troops  to  resist  the  seizure  of 
Thyrea,  but  before  any  battle  was  fought,  the  two  parties  came  to 
terms,  and  it  was  agreed  that  three  hundred  Spartans  and  three 
hundred  Argives  should  meet  and  fight  for  the  place,  which  should 
belong  to  the  nation  with  whom  the  victory  rested.  It  was  stipulated 
also  that  the  other  troops  on  each  side  should  return  home  to  their 
respective  countries,  and  not  remain  to  witness  the  Combat,  as  there 
was  danger,  if  the  armies  stayed,  that  either  the  one  or  the  other, 
on  seeing  their  countrymen  undergoing  defeat,  might  hasten  to  their 
assistance.  These  terms  being  agreed  on,  the  two  armies  marched 
off,  leaving  three  hundred  picked  men  on  each  side  to  fight  for  the 
territory.  The  battle  began,  and  so  equal  were  the  combatants,  that 
at  the  close  of  the  day,  when  night  put  a  stop  to  the  fight,  of  the 
whole  six  hundred  only  three  men  remained  alive,  two  Argives, 
Alcanor  and  Chromius,  and  a  single  Spartan,  Othryadas.  The  two 
Argives,  regarding  themselves  as  the  victors,  hurried  to  Argos. 
Othryadas,  the  Spartan,  remained  upon  the  field,  and,  stripping  the 
bodies  of  the  Argives  who  had  fallen,  carried  their  armour  to  the 
Spartan  carrip.  Next  day  the  two  armies  returned  to  learn  the  result. 
At  first  they  disputed,  both  parties  claiming  the  victory,  the  one, 
because  they  had  the  greater  number  of  survivors  ;  the  other,  be- 
cause their  man  remained  on  the  field,  and  stripped  the  bodies  of 
the  slain,  whereas  the  two  men  of  the  other  side  ran  away ;  but  at 
last  they  fell  from  words  to  blows,  and  a  battle  was  fought,  in  which 
both  parties  suffered  great  loss,  but  at  the  end  the  Lacedaemonians 
gained  the  victory.  Upon  this  the  Argives,  who  up  to  that  time  had 
worn  their  hair  long,  cut  it  off  close,  and  made  a  law,  to  which  they 
attached  a  curse,  binding  themselves  never  more  to  let  their  hair 
grow,  and  never  to  allow  their  women  to  wear  gold,  until  they  should 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS  95 

recover  Thyrea.  At  the  same  time  the  Lacedaemonians  made  a  law 
the  very  reverse  of  this,  namely,  to  wear  their  hair  long,  though  they 
had  always  before  cut  it  close.  Othryadas  himself,  it  is  said,  the 
sole  survivor  of  the  three  hundred,  prevented  by  a  sense  of  shame 
from  returning  to  Sparta  after  all  his  comrades  had  fallen,  laid 
violent  hands  upon  himself  in  Thyrea. 

After  Sparta  had  once  adopted  a  policy  of  aggressive  expansion, 
she  had  to  dispose  of  all  possible  rivals  in  her  vicinity.  The  ascend- 
ancy over  the  Tegeans  was  gained  only  after  a  long  effort  during 
which  the  Lacedaemonians  often  fared  worse  than  their  opponents. 

Herodotus^  I,  66-68 

Regarding  the  Arcadians  as  very  much  their  inferiors,  they  sent 
to  consult  the  oracle  about  conquering  the  whole  of  Arcadia.  The 
Pythoness  thus  answered  them  : 

"  Gravest  thou  Arcady  ?  Bold  is  thy  craving.    I  shall  not  content  it. 

Many  the  men  that  in  Arcady  dwell,  whose  food  is  the  acorn  — 

They  will  never  allow  thee.    It  is  not  I  that  am  niggard. 

I  will  give  thee  to  dance  in  Tegea,  with  noisy  foot-fall, 

And  with  the  measuring  line  mete  out  the  glorious  champaign." 

When  the  Lacedaemonians  received  this  reply,  leaving  the  rest 
of  Arcadia  untouched,  they  marched  against  the  Tegeans,  carrying 
with  them  fetters,  so  confident  had  this  oracle  (which  was,  in  truth, 
but  of  base  metal)  made  them  that  they  would  enslave  the  Tegeans. 
The  battle,  however,  went  against  them,  and  many  fell  into  the 
enemy's  hands.  Then  these  persons,  wearing  the  fetters  which  they 
had  themselves  brought,  and  fastened  together  in  a  string,  measured 
the  Tegean  plain  as  they  executed  their  labours.  The  fetters  in 
which  they  worked  were  still,  in  my  day,  preserved  at  Tegea  where 
they  hung  round  the  walls  of  the  temple  of  Athena  Alea. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  this  early  contest  with  the  Tegeans,  the 
Lacedaemonians  met  with  nothing  but  defeats  ;  .,  •  .  Croesus,  pro- 
ceeding to  seek  information  concerning  the  L>acedaemonians,  learnt 
that,  after  passing  through  a  period  of  great  depression,  they  had 
lately  been  victorious  in  a  war  with  the  people  of  Tegea ;  for, 
during  the  joint  reign  of  Leo  and  Agasicles,  kings  of  Sparta,  the 


96  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Lacedaemonians,  successful  in  all  their  other  wars,  suffered  continual 
defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  Tegeans.  .  .  .  Lichas  betook  himself  to 
Tegea,  and  on  his  arrival  acquainted  the  smith  with  his  misfortune, 
and  proposed  to  rent  his  room  of  him.  The  smith  refused  for  some 
time  ;  but  at  last  Lichas  persuaded  him,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  it. 
Then  he  opened  the  grave,  and  collecting  the  bones  [of  Orestes], 
returned  with  them  to  Sparta.  From  henceforth,  whenever  the 
Spartans  and  the  Tegeans  made  trial  of  each  other's  skill  in  arms, 
the  Spartans  always  had  greatly  the  advantage  ;  and  by  the  time 
to  which  we  are  now  come  they  were  masters  of  most  of  the 
Peloponnese, 

IV,    The  Spartan  Constitution 

Even  within  the  limits  of  her  own  domain  Spartan  ascendancy 
was  the  price  of  constant  vigilance.  The  disproportionate  number 
of  subjects  within  her  boundaries  necessitated  the  perfecting  of 
a  military  machine  composed  of  her  own  citizens.  Just  who  the 
Helots  were  was  never  agreed  on  in  antiquity,  nor  is  it  now,  but 
they  were  a  source  of  constant  anxiety  to  their  masters. 

1.  POPULATION 
T/iucydides,  I,  loi 

Most  of  the  Helots  were  the  descendants  of  the  old  Messenians 

that  were  enslaved  in  the  famous  war  ;  and  so  all  of  them  came  to 

be  called  Messenians, 

Thucydides,  IV,  80 

The  Lacedaemonians  were  also  glad  to  have  an  excuse  for  send- 
ing some  of  the  Helots  out  of  the  country,  for  fear  that  the  present 
aspect  of  affairs  and  the  occupation  of  Pylos  might  encourage  them 
to  move.  Indeed  fear  of  their  numbers  and  obstinacy  even  per- 
suaded the  Lacedaemonia'ns  to  the  action  which  I  shall  now  relate, 
their  policy  at  all  times  having  been  governed  by  the  necessity  of 
taking  precautions  against  them.  The  Helots  were  invited  by  a 
proclamation  to  pick  out  those  of  their  number  who  claimed  to 
have  most  distinguished  themselves  against  the  enemy,  in  order 
that  they  might  receive  their  freedom  ;    the  object  being  to  test 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS  97 

them,  as  it  was  thought  that  the  first  to  claim  their  freedom  would 
be  the  most  high-spirited  and  the  most  apt  to  rebel.  As  many  as 
two  thousand  were  selected  accordingly,  who  crowned  themselves 
and  went  round  the  temples,  rejoicing  in  their  new  freedom.  The 
Spartans,  however,  soon  afterwards  did  away  with  them,  and  no  one 
ever  knew  how  each  of  them  perished.  The  Spartans  now  therefore 
gladly  sent  seven  hundred  as  heavy  infantry  with  Brasidas,  who 
recruited  the  rest  of  his  force  by  means  of  money  in  Peloponnese. 

The  conservatism  and  stability  of  the  Spartan  constitution  was 
often  a  subject  of  comment  by  writers  familiar  with  the  changes 
and  experiments  of  many  of  the  other  Greek  states.  In  fact  it  was 
generally  explained  as  the  result  of  divine  intervention  either  in 
the  person  of  an  inspired  legislator  or  of  the  gods  themselves. 
The  balance,  the  combination  of  various  forms  of  government,  — 
monarchy,  aristocracy,  democracy,—  the  subtle  series  of  checks  and 
counterchecks,  indicate  that  such  a  constitution  must  have  been  de- 
liberately formulated  by  a  single  legislator  or  a  legislative  commis- 
sion. The  formality  and  the  jealous  guarding  of  varied  interests,  the 
lack  of  spontaneity,  recall  Roman  rather  than  Greek  constitutions. 

This  impression  of  a  deliberate  effort  on  the  part  of  Sparta  to  sac- 
rifice all  individual  freedom,  to  restrain  natural  instincts,  for  the  sake 
of  the  efficient  fighting  machine,  has  been  well  supplemented  by 
the  results  of  the  recent  excavations  in  Lacedaemon  by  the  British 
School  at  Athens.  They  have  shown  clearly  that  at  one  time  — 
say  from  the  ninth  to  the  seventh  century  —  the  Spartans  were  not 
very  different  from  the  other  Greeks,  and  that  the  stiffness,  priggish- 
ness,  lack  of  interest  in  art  which  we  are  accustomed  to  associate 
with  them  were  probably  the  result  of  a  conscious  effort  on  their 
part.  The  fine  work  of  that  period  in  metal,  pottery,  and  carved  ivory 
shows  great  artistic  ability  which  was  nipped  in  the  bud.^ 

1  For  an  interesting  theory  of  the  reason  for  the  change,  see  Dickins,  "  The 
Growth  of  Spartan  Policy."  in  /.U.S.,  191 2,  pp.  1-42.  Grundy,  in  /.  H.  S.,  191 2, 
pp.  261-269,  opposes  the  theory. 


98  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

T/iHcydides,  I,  i8 

For  this  city,  though  after  the  settlement  of  the  Dorians,  its 
present  inhabitants,  it  suffered  from  factions  for  an  unparalleled 
length  of  time,  still  at  a  very  early  period  obtained  good  laws,  and 
enjoyed  a  freedom  from  tyrants  which  was  unbroken  ;  it  has 
possessed  the  same  form  of  government  for  more  than  four  hun- 
dred years,  reckoning  to  the  end  of  the  late  war,  and  has  thus 
been  in  a  position  to  arrange  the  affairs  of  the  other  states. 

2.    LYCURGUS  AND  HIS  WORK 

Xenophon,  The  Folify  of  the  Lacedattionians,  I,  1-2 

I  recall  the  astonishment  with  which  I  first  noted  the  unique 
position  of  Sparta  amongst  the  states  of  Hellas,  the  relatively 
sparse  population,  and  at  the  same  time  the  extraordinary  power 
and  prestige  of  the  community.  I  was  puzzled  to  account  for  the 
fact.  It  was  only  when  I  came  to  consider  the  peculiar  institutions 
of  the  Spartans  that  my  wonderment  ceased.  Or  rather,  it  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  legislator  who  gave  them  those  laws,  obedience  to 
which  has  been  the  secret  of  their  prosperity.  This  legislator, 
Lycurgus,  I  must  needs  admire,  and  hold  him  to  have  been  one 
of  the  wisest  of  mankind.  Certainly  he  was  no  servile  imitator  of 
other  states.  It  was  by  a  stroke  of  invention  rather,  and  on  a  pat- 
tern much  in  opposition  to  the  commonly  accepted  one,  that  he 
brought  his  fatherland  to  this  pinnacle  of  prosperity. 

Plato,  Laws,  III,  691-692  (tr.  Jowett,  p.  73) 

A  God,  who  watched  over  Sparta,  seeing  into  the  future,  gave 
you  two  families  of  kings  instead  of  one  ;  and  thus  brought  you 
more  within  the  limits  of  moderation.  In  the  next  place,  some 
human  wisdom  mingled  with  divine  power,  observing  that  the  con- 
stitution of  your  government  was  still  feverish  and  excited,  tempered 
your  inborn  strength  and  pride  of  birth  with  the  moderation  which 
comes  with  age,  making  the  power  of  your  twenty-eight  elders 
equal  with  that  of  the  kings  in  the  most  important  matters.  But 
your  third  saviour,  perceiving  that  your  government  was  still  swell- 
ing and  foaming,  and  desirous  to  impose  a  curb  upon  it,  instituted 
the  Ephors,  whose  power  he  made  to  resemble  that  of  magistrates 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS  99 

elected  by  lot ;  and  by  this  arrangement  the  kingly  office,  being 
compounded  of  the  right  elements  and  duly  moderated,  was 
preserved,  and  was  the  means  of  preserving  all  the  rest. 

3.    THE  SENATE 
Plutarch,  Lyairgus,  6-7 

Amongst  the  many  changes  and  alterations  which  Lycurgus 
made,  the  first  and  of  greatest  importance  was  the  establishment 
of  the  senate,  which  having  a  power  equal  to  the  kings'  in  matters 
of  great  consequence,  and,  as  Plato  expresses  it,  allaying  and  quali- 
fying the  fiery  genius  of  the  royal  office,  gave  steadiness  and  safety 
to  the  commonwealth.  For  the  state,  which  before  had  no  firm 
basis  to  stand  upon,  but  leaned  one  while  towards  an  absolute 
monarchy,  when  the  kings  had  the  upper  hand,  and  another  while 
towards  a  pure  democracy,  when  the  people  had  the  better,  found 
in  this  establishment  of  the  senate  a  central  weight,  like  ballast  in 
a  ship,  which  always  kept  things  in  a  just  equilibrium  ;  the  twenty- 
eight  always  adhering  to  the  kings  so  far  as  to  resist  democracy, 
and  on  the  other  hand,  supporting  the  people  against  the  establish- 
ment of  absolute  monarchy.  As  for  the  determinate  number  of 
twenty-eight,  Aristotle  states,  that  it  so  fell  out  because  two  of  the 
original  associates,  for  want  of  courage,  fell  off  from  the  enterprise  ; 
but  Sphaerus  assures  us  that  there  were  but  twenty-eight  of  the 
confederates  at  first ;  perhaps  there  is  some  mystery  in  the  num- 
ber, which  consists  of  seven  multiplied  by  four,  and  is  the  first  of 
perfect  numbers  after  six,  being,  as  that  is,  equal  to  all.  its  parts. 
For  my  part,  I  believe  Lycurgus  fixed  upon  the  number  of  twenty- 
eight,  that,  the  two  kings  being  reckoned  amongst  them,  they 
might  be  thirty  in  all.  So  eagerly  set  was  he  upon  this  establish- 
ment, that  he  took  the  trouble  to  obtain  an  oracle  about  it  from 
Delphi,  the  Rhetra,  which  runs  thus:  "After  that  you  have  built 
a  temple  to  Zeus  Hellanius,  and  to  Athene  Hellania,  and  after  that 
you  have //^j'/t'V/ the  people  mto  phylcs,  and  obc'd  them  into  obcs, 
you  shall  establish  a  council  of  thirty  elders,  the  leaders  included, 
and  shall,  from  time  to  time,  apcllazcin  the  people  betwixt  Babyca 
and  Cnacion,  there  propound  and  put  to  the  vote.  The  commons 
have  the  final  voice  and  decision."    Viy  phyles  and  obcs  are  meant 


lOO  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

the  divisions  of  the  people  ;  by  the  leaders,  the  two  kings  ;  apel- 
lazcin,  referring  to  the  Pythian  Apollo,  signifies  to  assemble ; 
Babyca  and  Cnacion  they  now  call  GEnus ;  Aristotle  says  Cnacion 
is  a  river,  and  Babyca  a  bridge.  Betwixt  this  Babyca  and  Cnacion, 
their  assemblies  were  held,  for  they  had  no  council-house  or  building 
to  meet  in. 

Plutarch,  Lycitrgiis,  26 

The  senate,  as  I  said  before,  consisted  of  those  who  were 
Lycurgus's  chief  aiders  and  assistants  in  his  plans.  The  vacancies 
he  ordered  to  be  supplied  out  of  the  best  and  most  deserving  men 
past  sixty  years  old,  and  we  need  not  wonder  if  there  was  much 
striving  for  it ;  for  what  more  glorious  competition  could  there  be 
amongst  men,  than  one  in  which  it  was  not  contested  who  was 
swiftest  among  the  swift  or  strongest  of  the  strong,  but  who  of 
many  wise  and  good  was  wisest  and  best,  and  fittest  to  be  intrusted 
for  ever  after,  as  the  reward  of  his  merits,  with  the  supreme  author- 
ity of  the  commonwealth,  and  with  power  over  the  lives,  franchises, 
and  highest  interests  of  all  his  countrymen  .?  The  manner  of  their 
election  was  as  follows  :  the  people  being  called  together,  some 
selected  persons  were  locked  up  in  a  room  near  the  place  of  elec- 
tion, so  contrived  that  they  could  neither  see  nor  be  seen,  but  could 
only  hear  the  noise  of  the  assembly  without ;  for  they  decided  this, 
as  most  other  affairs  of  moment,  by  the  shouts  of  the  people.  This 
done,  the  competitors  were  not  brought  in  and  presented  all  to- 
gether, but  one  after  another  by  lot,  and  passed  in  order  through 
the  assembly  without  speaking  a  word.  Those  who  were  locked  up 
had  writing-tables  with  them,  in  which  they  recorded  and  marked 
each  shout  by  its  loudness,  without  knowing  in  favor  of  which  can- 
didate each  of  them  was  made,  but  merely  that  they  came  first, 
second,  third,  and  so  forth.  He  who  was  found  to  have  the  most 
and  loudest  acclamations  was  declared  senator  duly  elected. 

4.  THE  EPHORS 
Plutarch,  Lycurgus,  7 

Although  Lycurgus  had,  in  this  manner,  used  all  the  qualifica- 
tions possible  in  the  constitution  of  his  commonwealth,  yet  those 
who  succeeded  him  found  the  oligarchical  element  still  too  strong 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS         lOl 

and  dominant,  and  to  check  its  high  temper  and  its  violence,  put, 
as  Plato  says,  a  bit  in  its  mouth,  which  was  the  power  of  the  ephori, 
established  an  hundred  and  thirty  years  after  the  death  of  Lycurgus. 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  LacedcBmonians,  VHI 

Accordingly  the  ephors  are  competent  to  punish  whomsoever 
they  choose ;  they  have  power  to  exact  fines  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment ;  they  have  power  to  depose  magistrates  in  mid  career,  — - 
nay,  actually  to  imprison  and  bring  them  to  trial  on  the  capital 
charge.  Entrusted  with  these  vast  powers,  they  do  not,  as  do  the 
rest  of  states,  allow  the  magistrates  elected  to  exercise  authority  as 
they  like,  right  through  the  year  of  office  ;  but,  in  the  style  rather 
of  despotic  monarchs,  or  presidents  of  the  games,  at  the  first  symp- 
tom of  an  offence  against  the  law  they  inflict  chastisement  without 
warning  and  without  hesitation. 

5.    THE  KINGS 

As  has  often  been  remarked,  the  Spartan  rulers  kept  the  name 
of  kings  but  lost  most  of  the  functions  of  the  Homeric  monarchs, 
which  were  taken  over  by  other  branches  of  the  government,  leaving 
to  them  chiefly  religious  headship  and  prestige. 

Herodotus,  VI,  56-59 

The  prerogatives  which  the  Spartans  have  allowed  their  kings 
are  the  following.  In  the  first  place,  two  priesthoods,  those  (namely) 
of  Lacedaemonian  and  of  Celestial  Zeus ;  also  the  right  of  making 
war  on  what  country  soever  they  please,  without  hindrance  from 
any  of  the  other  Spartans,  under  pain  of  outlawry  ;  on  service  the 
privilege  of  marching  first  in  the  advance  and  last  in  the  retreat, 
and  of  having  a  hundred  picked  men  for  their  body-guard  while 
with  the  army  ;  likewise  the  liberty  of  sacrificing  as  many  cattle  in 
their  expeditions  as  seems  to  them  good,  and  the  right  of  having  the 
skins  and  the  chines  of  the  slaughtered  animals  for  their  own  use. 

Such  are  their  privileges  in  war ;  in  peace  their  rights  are  as 
follows.  When  a  citizen  makes  a  public  sacrifice  the  kings  are 
given  the  first  seats  at  the  banquet ;  they  are  served  before  any 
of  the  other  guests,  and  have  a  double  portion  of  everything; 


102  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISIORY 

they  take  the  lead  in  the  hbations ;  and  the  hides  of  the  sacrificed 
beasts  belong  to  them.  Every  month,  on  the  first  day,  and  again 
on  the  seventh  of  the  first  decade,  each  king  receives  a  beast  with- 
out blemish  at  the  public  cost,  which  he  offers  up  to  Apollo ;  like- 
wise a  medimnus  of  meal,  and  of  wine  a  Laconian  quart.  In  the 
contests  of  the  games  they  have  always  the  seat  of  honour ;  they 
appoint  the  citizens  who  have  to  entertain  foreigners  ;  they  also 
nominate,  each  of  them,  two  of  the  Pythians,  officers  whose  busi- 
ness it  is  to  consult  the  oracle  at  Delphi,  who  eat  with  the  kings, 
and, -like  them,  live  at  the  public  charge.  If  the  kings  do  not 
come  to  the  public  supper,  each  of  them  must  have  two  choenixes 
of  meal  and  a  cotyle  of  wine  sent  home  to  him  at  his  house ;  if 
they  come,  they  are  given  a  double  quantity  of  each,  and  the  same 
when  any  private  man  invites  them  to  his  table.  They  have  the 
custody  of  all  the  oracles  which  are  pronounced  ;  but  the  Pythians 
must  likewise  have  knowledge  of  them.  They  have  the  whole  de- 
cision of  certain  causes,  which  are  these,  and  these  only  :  —  When 
a  maiden  is  left  the  heiress  of  her  father's  estate,  and  has  not  been 
betrothed  by  him  to  any  one,  they  decide  who  is  to  marry  her ;  in 
all  matters  concerning  the  public  highways  they  judge  ;  and  if  a 
person  wants  to  adopt  a  child,  he  must  do  it  before  the  kings. 
They  likewise  have  the  right  of  sitting  in  council  with  the  eight- 
and-twenty  senators ;  and  if  they  are  not  present,  then  the  senators 
nearest  of  kin  to  them  have  their  privileges,  and  give  two  votes  as 
the  royal  proxies,  besides  a  third  vote,  which  is  their  own. 

Such  are  the  honours  which  the  Spartan  people  have  allowed 
their  kings  during  their  lifetime ;  after  they  are  dead  other  honours 
await  them.  Horsemen  carry  the  news  of  their  death  through  all 
Laconia,  while  in  the  city  the  women  go  hither  and  thither  drum- 
ming upon  a  kettle.  At  this  signal,  in  every  house  two  free  persons, 
a  man  and  a  woman,  must  put  on  mourning,  or  else  be  subject  to 
a  heavy  fine.  The  Lacedaemonians  have  likewise  a  custom  at  the 
demise  of  their  kings  which  is  common  to  them  with  the  barbari- 
ans of  Asia  —  indeed  with  the  greater  number  of  the  barbarians 
everywhere  —  namely,  that  when  one  of  their  kings  dies,  not  only 
the  Spartans,  but  a  certain  number  of  the  country  people  from 
every  part  of  Laconia  are  forced,  whether  they  will  or  no,  to  attend 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS          1 03 

the  funeral.  So  these  persons  and  the  Helots,  and  likewise  the 
Spartans  themselves,  flock  together  to  the  number  of  several  thou- 
sands, men  and  women  intermingled  ;  and  all  of  them  smite  their 
foreheads  violently,  and  weep  and  wail  without  stint,  saying  always 
that  their  last  king  was  the  best.  If  a  king  dies  in  battle,  then 
they  make  a  statue  of  him,  and  placing  it  upon  a  couch  right  bravely 
decked,  so  carry  it  to  the  grave.  After  the  burial,  by  the  space  of 
ten  days  there  is  no  assembly,  nor  do  they  elect  magistrates,  but 
continue  mourning  the  whole  time. 

They  hold  with  the  Persians  also  in  another  custom.  When  a 
king  dies,  and  another  comes  to  the  throne,  the  newly-made  mon- 
arch forgives  all  the  Spartans  the  debts  which  they  owe  either  to 
the  king  or  to  the  public  treasury.  And  in  like  manner  among  the 
Persians  each  king  when  he  begins  to  reign  remits  the  tribute  due 
from  the  provinces. 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Lacedicmonians,  XHI 

I  will  now  give  a  detailed  account  of  the  power  and  privilege 
assigned  by  Lycurgus  to  the  king  during  a  campaign.  To  begin 
with,  so  long  as  he  is  on  active  service,  the  state  maintains  the 
king  and  those  with  him.  The  polemarchs  mess  with  him  and 
share  his  quarters,  so  that  by  dint  of  constant  intercourse  they 
may  be  all  the  better  able  to  consult  in  common  in  case  of  need. 
Besides  the  polemarch  three  other  members  of  the  peers  share 
the  royal  quarters,  mess,  etc.  The  duty  of  these  is  to  attend  to  all 
matters  of  commissariat,  in  order  that  the  king  and  the  rest  may 
have  unbroken  leisure  to  attend  to  affairs  of  actual  warfare. 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Lacedce/nonians,  XV 

Lycurgus  laid  it  down  as  law  that  the  king  shall  offer  in  behalf 
of  the  state  all  public  sacrifices,  as  being  himself  of  divine  descent, 
and  whithersoever  the  state  shall  despatch  her  armies  the  king  shall 
take  the  lead.  He  granted  him  to  receive  honorary  gifts  of  the 
things  offered  in  sacrifice,  and  he  appointed  him  choice  land  in 
many  of  the  provincial  cities,  enough  to  satisfy  moderate  needs 
without  excess  of  wealth.  And  in  order  that  the  kings  also  might 
camp  and  mess  in  public  he  appointed  them  public  quarters  ;  and 


I04  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

he  honoured  them  with  a  double  portion  each  at  the  evening  meal, 
not  in  order  that  they  might  actually  eat  twice  as  much  as  others, 
but  that  the  king  might  have  wherewithal  to  honour  whomsoever 
he  desired.  He  also  granted  as  a  gift  to  each  of  the  two  kings  to 
choose  two  mess-fellows,  which  same  arc  called  Puthioi.  He  also 
granted  them  to  receive  out  of  every  litter  of  swine  one  pig,  so  that 
the  king  might  never  be  at  a  loss  for  victims  if  in  aught  he  wished 
to  consult  the  gods. 

Close  by  the  palace  a  lake  affords  an  unrestricted  supply  of 
water ;  and  how  useful  that  is  for  various  purposes  they  best  can 
tell  who  lack  the  luxury.  Moreover,  all  rise  from  their  seats  to 
give  place  to  the  king,  save  only  that  the  ephors  rise  not  from 
their  thrones  of  office.  Monthly  they  exchange  oaths,  the  ephors 
in  behalf  of  the  state,  the  king  himself  in  his  own  behalf.  And 
this  is  the  oath  on  the  king's  part :  "I  will  exercise  my  kingship 
in  accordance  with  the  established  laws  of  the  state."  And  on  the 
part  of  the  state  the  oath  runs  :  "So  long  as  he  (who  exercises 
kingship)  shall  abide  by  his  oath  we  will  not  suffer  his  kingdom 
to  be  shaken," 

These  then  are  the  honours  bestowed  upon  the  king  during  his 
lifetime  (at  home),  —  honours  by  no  means  much  exceeding  those 
of  private  citizens,  since  the  lawgiver  was  minded  neither  to  sug- 
gest to  the  kings  the  pride  of  the  despotic  monarch,  nor,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  engender  in  the  heart  of  the  citizen  envy  of  their 
power.  As  to  those  other  honours  which  are  given  to  the  king  at 
his  death,  the  laws  of  Lycurgus  would  seem  plainly  to  signify 
hereby  that  these  kings  of  Lacedaemon  are  not  mere  mortals  but 
heroic  beings,  and  that  is  why  they  are  preferred  in  honour. 

Aristotle,  Politics,  III,  14 

But  the  kings  at  Lacedaemon  are  not  supreme  in  all  matters, 
they  are  merely  military  commanders  in  expeditions  beyond  the 
frontiers  and  enjoy  also  as  their  prerogative  the  superintendence 
of  religious  observances.  This  form  of  Kingship  may  be  described 
as  nothing  more  than  an  absolute  and  perpetual  generalship  ;  for  it 
does  not  convey  the  power  of  life  and  death  except  in  certain  cases, 
as  in  the  heroic  times  by  martial  law  during  military  expeditions. 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS         105 

6.  THE  PEOPLE,  PROPERTY,  AND  DISCIPLINE 
Plutarch,  Lycurgns,  8 

After  the  creation  of  the  thirty  senators,  his  next  task,  and,  indeed, 
the  most  hazardous  he  ever  undertook,  was  the  making  a  new  divi- 
sion of  their  lands.  For  there  was  an  extreme  inequality  amongst 
them,  and  their  state  was  overloaded  with  a  multitude  of  indigent 
and  necessitous  persons,  while  its  whole  wealth  had  centred  upon  a 
very  few.  To  the  end,  therefore,  that  he  might  expel  from  the  state 
arrogance  and  envy,  luxury  and  crime,  and  those  yet  more  inveterate 
diseases  of  want  and  superfluity,  he  obtained  of  them  to  renounce 
their  properties,  and  to  consent  to  a  new  division  of  the  land,  and 
that  they  should  live  all  together  on  an  equal  footing ;  merit  to  be 
their  only  road  to  eminence,  and  the  disgrace  of  evil,  and  credit  of 
worthy  acts,  their  one  measure  of  difference  between  man  and  man. 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  LacedcTtiionians,  VI 

There  are  other  points  in  which  this  legislator's  views  run  counter 
to  those  commonly  accepted.  Thus  :  in  other  states  the  individual 
citizen  is  master  over  his  own  children,  domestics,  goods  and  chattels, 
and  belongings  generally ;  but  Lycurgus,  whose  aim  was  to  secure 
to  all  the  citizens  a  considerable  share  in  one  another's  goods  with- 
out mutual  injury,  enacted  that  each  one  should  have  an  equal  power 
over  his  neighbour's  children  as  over  his  own. 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Lacedcemonians,  IX 

The  following  too  may  well  excite  our  admiration  for  Lycurgus. 
I  speak  of  the  consummate  skill  with  which  he  induced  the  whole 
state  of  Sparta  to  regard  an  honourable  death  as  preferable  to  an 
ignoble  life. 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Lacedo'moinans,  X 

And  yet  another  point  may  well  excite  our  admiration  for 
Lycurgus  largely.  It  had  not  escaped  his  observation  that  com- 
munities exist  where  those  who  are  willing  to  make  virtue  their 
study  and  delight  fail  somehow  in  ability  to  add  to  the  glory  of 
their  fatherland.  That  lesson  the  legislator  laid  to  heart,  and  in 
Sparta  he  enforced,  as  a  matter  of  public  duty,  the  practice  of 
every  virtue  by  every  citizen.    And  so  it  is  that,  just  as  man  differs 


lo6  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

from  man  in  some  excellence,  according  as  he  cultivates  or  neglects 
to  cultivate  it,  this  city  of  Sparta,  with  good  reason,  outshines  all 
other  states  in  virtue  ;  since  she,  and  she  alone,  has  made  the 
attainment  of  a  high  standard  of  noble  living  a  public  duty. 

Plutarch,  Lyciirgiis,  24 

Their  discipline  continued  still  after  they  were  full-grown  men. 
No  one  was  allowed  to  live  after  his  own  fancy ;  but  the  city  was 
a  sort  of  camp,  in  which  every  man  had  his  share  of  provisions 
and  business  set  out,  and  looked  upon  himself  not  so  much  born 
to  serve  his  own  ends  as  the  interest  of  his  country.  Therefore  if 
they  were  commanded  nothing  else,  they  went  to  see  the  boys  per- 
form their  exercises,  to  teach  them  something  useful  or  to  learn 
it  themselves  of  those  who  knew  better.  And  indeed  one  of  the 
greatest  and  highest  blessings  Lycurgus  procured  his  people  was 
the  abundance  of  leisure  which  proceeded  from  his  forbidding  to 
them  the  exercise  of  any  mean  and  mechanical  trade.  Of  the 
money-making  that  depends  on  troublesome  going  about  and  see- 
ing people  and  doing  business,  they  had  no  need  at  all  in  a  state 
where  wealth  obtained  no  honour  or  respect.  The  Helots  tilled 
their  ground  for  them,  and  paid  them  yearly  in  kind  the  appointed 
quantity,  without  any  trouble  of  theirs.  To  this  purpose  there  goes 
a  story  of  a  Lacedaemonian  who,  happening  to  be  at  Athens  when 
the  courts  were  sitting,  was  told  of  a  citizen  that  had  been  fined 
for  living  an  idle  life,  and  was  being  escorted  home  in  much  dis- 
tress of  mind  by  his  condoling  friends  ;  the  Lacedaemonian  was 
much  surprised  at  it  and  desired  his  friend  to  show  him  the  man 
who  was  condemned  for  living  like  a  freeman.  So  much  beneath 
them  did  they  esteem  the  frivolous  devotion  of  time  and  attention 
to  the  mechanical  arts  and  to  money-making.     • 

7.  EDUCATION 
Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Lacediemonians,  II,  2-7 

But  when  we  turn  to  Lycurgus,  instead  of  leaving  it  to  each 
member  of  the  state  privately  to  appoint  a  slave  to  be  his  son's 
tutor,  he  set  over  the  young  Spartans  a  public  guardian,  the  Paido- 
nomos  or  "  pastor,"  to  give  him  his  proper  title,  with  complete 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS         107 

authority  over  them.  This  guardian  was  selected  from  those  who 
filled  the  highest  magistracies.  He  had  authority  to  hold  musters  of 
the  boys,  and  as  their  overseer,  in  case  of  any  misbehaviour,  to  chas- 
tise severely.  The  legislator  further  provided  the  pastor  with  a  body 
of  youths  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  bearing  whips,  to  inflict  punish- 
ment when  necessary,  with  this  happy  result  that  in  Sparta  modesty 
and  obedience  ever  go  hand  in  hand,  nor  is  there  lack  of  either. 

Instead  of  softening  their  feet  with  shoe  or  sandal,  his  rule  was 
to  make  them  hardy  through  going  barefoot.  ,  .  . 

Instead  of  making  them  effeminate  with  a  variety  of  clothes,  his 
rule  was  to  habituate  them  to  a  single  garment  the  whole  year 
through,  thinking  that  so  they  would  be  better  prepared  to  with- 
stand the  variations  of  heat  and  cold. 

Again,  as  regards  food,  according  to  his  regulation  the  Eiren, 
or  head  of  the  flock,  must  see  that  his  messmates  gathered  to  the 
club  meal,  with  such  moderate  food  as  to  avoid  that  heaviness 
which  is  engendered  by  repletion,  and  yet  not  to  remain  altogether 
unacquainted  with  the  pains  of  penurious  living.   .  .   . 

On  the  other  hand,  in  order  to  guard  against  a  too  great  pinch 
of  starvation,  though  he  did  not  actually  allow  the  boys  to  help 
themselves  without  further  trouble  to  what  they  needed  more,  he 
did  give  them  permission  to  steal  this  thing  or  that  in  the  effort 
to  alleviate  their  hunger,   .   .   . 

It  is  obvious,  I  say,  that  the  whole  of  this  education  tended, 
and  was  intended,  to  make  the  boys  craftier  and  more  inventive 
in  getting  in  supplies,  whilst  at  the  same  time  it  cultivated  their 
warlike  instincts.   ... 

Furthermore,  and  in  order  that  the  boys  should  not  want  a 
ruler,  even  in  case  the  pastor  himself  were  absent,  he  gave  to  any 
citizen  who  chanced  to  be  present  authority  to  lay  upon  them 
injunctions  for  their  good,  and  to  chastise  them  for  any  trespass 
committed.  By  so  doing  he  created  in  the  boys  of  Sparta  a  most 
rare  modesty  and  reverence. 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Laccda;>fio?iians,  HI 

Coming  to  the  critical  period  at  which  a  boy  ceases  to  be  a  boy 
and  becomes  a  youth,  we  find  that  it  is  just  then  that  the  rest  of 


io8  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

the  world  proceed  to  emancipate  their  children  from  the  private 
tutor  and  the  schoolmaster,  and,  without  substituting  any  further 
ruler,  are  content  to  launch  them  into  absolute  independence. 

Here,  again,  Lycurgus  took  an  entirely  opposite  view  of  the 
matter,  ,  .  .  This,  then,  was  the  right  moment  at  which  to  im- 
pose tenfold  labours  upon  the  growing  youth,  and  to  devise  for 
him  a  subtle  system  of  absorbing  occupation.  And  by  a  crowning 
enactment,  which  said  that  "he  who  shrank  from  the  duties  im- 
posed on  him  would  forfeit  henceforth  all  claim  to  the  glorious 
honours  of  the  state,"  he  caused,  not  only  the  public  authorities, 
but  those  personally  interested  in  the  several  companies  of  youths 
to  take  serious  pains  so  that  no  single  individual  of  them  should 
by  an  act  of  craven  cowardice  find  himself  utterly  rejected  and 
reprobate  within  the  body  politic. 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Lacedccmoniatis^  IV 

But  if  he  was  thus  careful  in  the  education  of  the  stripling,  the 
Spartan  lawgiver  showed  a  still  greater  anxiety  in  dealing  with 
those  who  had  reached  the  prime  of  opening  manhood  ;  consider- 
ing their  immense  importance  to  the  city  in  the  scale  of  good,  if 
only  they  proved  themselves  the  men  they  should  be.  He  had 
only  to  look  around  to  see  that  wherever  the  spirit  of  emulation 
is  most  deeply  seated,  there,  too,  their  choruses  and  gymnastic 
contests  will  present  alike  a  far  higher  charm  to  eye  and  ear. 
And  on  the  same  principle  he  persuaded  himself  that  he  needed 
only  to  confront  his  youthful  warriors  in  the  strife  of  valour,  and 
with  like  result.  They  also,  in  their  degree,  might  be  expected  to 
attain  to  some  unknown  height  of  manly  virtue. 

What  method  he  adopted  to  engage  these  combatants  I  will 
now  explain.  It  is  on  this  wise.  Their  ephors  select  three  men 
out  of  the  whole  body  of  the  citizens  in  the  prime  of  life.  These 
three  are  named  Hippagretai,  or  masters  of  the  horse.  Each  of 
these  selects  one  hundred  others,  being  bound  to  explain  for  what 
reason  he  prefers  in  honour  these  and  disapproves  of  those.  The 
result  is  that  those  who  fail  to  obtain  the  distinction  are  now  at 
open  war,  not  only  with  those  who  rejected  them,  but  with  those 
who  were  chosen  in  their  stead  ;  and  they  keep  ever  a  jealous  eye 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS         109 

on  one  another  to  detect  some  slip  of  conduct  contrary  to  the  high 
code  of  honour  there  held  customar)'. 

Plutarch,  Lycurgus,  21 

Nor  was  their  instruction  in  music  and  verse  less  carefully 
attended  to  than  their  habits  of  grace  and  good-breeding  in  con- 
versation. And  their  very  songs  had  a  life  and  spirit  in  them  that 
inflamed  and  possessed  men's  minds  with  an  enthusiasm  and  ardor 
for  action  ;  the  style  of  them  was  plain  and  without  affectation ; 
the  subject  always  serious  and  moral ;  most  usually,  it  was  in 
praise  of  such  men  as  had  died  in  defence  of  their  country,  or  in 
derision  of  those  that  had  been  cowards  ;  the  former  they  declared 
happy  and  glorified  ;  the  life  of  the  latter  they  described  as  most 
miserable  and  abject.  There  were  also  vaunts  of  what  they  would 
do,  and  boasts  of  what  they  had  done,  varying  with  the  various 
ages,  as,  for  example,  they  had  three  choirs  in  their  solemn  festi- 
vals, the  first  of  the  old  men,  the  second  of  the  young  men,  and 
the  last  of  the  children  ;  the  old  men  began  thus  :  — 

"We  once  were  young,  and  brave,  and  strong"  ; 

the  young  men  answered  them,  singing  :  — 

"And  we  're  so  now,  come  on  and  try"  • 

the  children  came  last  and  said  :  — 

"But  we'll  be  strongest  by  and  by." 

Indeed,  if  we  will  take  the  pains  to  consider  their  compositions, 
some  of  which  were  still  extant  in  our  days,  and  the  airs  on  the 
flute  to  which  they  marched  when  going  to  battle,  we  shall  find 
that  Terpander  and  Pindar  had  reason  to  say  that  music  and 
valour  were  allied.    The  first  says  of  Lacedsemon  — 


and  Pindar 


The  spear  and  song  in  her  do  meet. 
And  Justice  walks  about  her  street ; 

Councils  of  wise  elders  here, 

And  the  young  men's  conquering  spear, 

And  dance,  and  song,  and  joy  appear ; 


no  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

both  describing  the  Spartans  as  no  less  musical  than  warHke  ;  in 
the  words  of  one  of  their  own  poets  — 

With  the  iron  stern  and  sharp, 
Comes  the  playing  on  the  harp. 

For,  indeed,  before  they  engaged  in  battle,  the  king  first  did  sacri- 
fice to  the  Muses,  in  all  likelihood  to  put  them  in  mind  of  the 
manner  of  their  education,  and  of  the  judgment  that  would  be 
passed  upon  their  actions,  and  thereby  to  animate  them  to  the 
performance  of  exploits  that  should  deserve  a  record.  At  such 
times,  too,  the  Lacedaemonians  abated  a  little  the  severity  of  their 
manners  in  favor  of  their  young  men,  suffering  them  to  curl 
and  adorn  their  hair,  and  to  have  costly  arms,  and  fine  clothes  ;  and 
were  well  pleased  to  see  them,  like  proud  horses,  neighing  and 
pressing  to  the  course.  And,  therefore,  as  soon  as  they  came  to 
be  well-grown,  they  took  a  great  deal  of  care  of  their  hair,  to  have 
it  parted  and  trimmed,  especially  against  a  day  of  battle,  pursuant 
to  a  saying  recorded  of  their  lawgiver,  that  a  large  head  of  hair 
added  beauty  to  a  good  face,  and  terror  to  an  ugly  one. 

Xenophon,  FflUty  of  the  Lacedcemonia/is,  I 

And,  believing  that  the  highest  function  of  a  free  woman  was 
the  bearing  of  children,  in  the  first  place  he  insisted  on  the  train- 
ing of  the  body  as  incumbent  no  less  on  the  female  than  the  male ; 
and  in  pursuit  of  the  same  idea  instituted  rival  contests  in  running 
and  feats  of  strength  for  women  as  for  men.  His  belief  was  that 
where  both  parents  were  strong  their  progeny  would  be  found  to 
be  more  vigorous. 

8.   COMMON  MESS 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Lacedcetnojiians,  V 

He  invented  the  public  mess-rooms.  Whereby  he  expected  at 
any  rate  to  minimize  the  transgression  of  orders. 

As  to  food,  his  ordinance  allowed  them  so  much  as,  while  not 
inducing  repletion,  should  guard  them  from  actual  want.  And,  in 
fact,  there  are  many  exceptional  dishes  in  the  shape  of  game  sup- 
plied from  the  hunting  field.    Or,  as  a  substitute  for  these,  rich 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELOPONNESUS  iii 

men  will  occasionally  garnish  the  feast  with  wheaten  loaves.  So 
that  from  beginning  to  end,  till  the  mess  breaks  up,  the  common 
board  is  never  stinted  for  viands,  nor  }-et  extravagantly  furnished. 
So  also  in  the  matter  of  drink.  Whilst  putting  a  stop  to  all  un- 
necessary potations,  detrimental  alike  to  a  firm  brain  and  a  steady 
gait,  he  left  them  free  to  quench  thirst  when  nature  dictated  ;  a 
method  which  would  at  once  add  to  the  pleasure  whilst  it  diminished 
the  danger  of  drinking. 

Plutarch,  Ljcurgus,  12 

They  met  by  companies  of  fifteen,  more  or  less,  and  each  of 
them  stood  bound  to  bring  in  monthly  a  bushel  of  meal,  eight  gal- 
lons of  wine,  five  pounds  of  cheese,  two  pounds  and  a  half  of  figs, 
and  some  very  small  sum  of  money  to  buy  flesh  or  fish  with. 
Besides  this,  when  any  of  them  made  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  they 
always  sent  a  dole  to  the  common  hall ;  and,  likewise,  when  any  of 
them  had  been  a  hunting,  he  sent  thither  a  part  of  the  venison  he 
had  killed ;  for  these  two  occasions  were  the  only  excuses  allowed 
for  supping  at  home.  The  custom  of  eating  together  w-as  observ^ed 
strictly  for  a  great  while  afterwards  ;  insomuch  that  king  Agis  him- 
self, after  having  vanquished  the  Athenians,  sending  for  his  com- 
mons at  his  return  home,  because  he  desired  to  eat  privately  with 
his  queen,  was  refused  them  by  the  polemarchs  ;  which  refusal 
when  he  resented  so  much  as  to  omit  next  day  the  sacrifice  due 
for  a  w^ar  happily  ended,  they  made  him  pay  a  fine. 

They  used  to  send  their  children  to  these  tables  as  to  schools 
of  temperance  ;  here  they  w-ere  instructed  in  state  affairs  by  listen- 
ing to  experienced  statesmen  ;  here  they  learned  to  converse  with 
pleasantry,  to  make  jests  without  scurrility  and  take  them  without 
ill  humor.  In  this  point  of  good  breeding,  the  Lacedaemonians 
excelled  particularly,  but  if  any  man  were  uneasy  under  it,  upon 
the  least  hint  given,  there  was  no  more  to  be  said  to  him.  It  was 
customary  also  for  the  eldest  man  in  the  company  to  say  to  each 
of  them,  as  they  came  in,  "  Through  this  "  (pointing  to  the  door), 
"  no  words  go  out."  When  any  one  had  a  desire  to  be  admitted 
into  any  of  these  little  societies,  he  was  to  go  through  the  follow- 
ing probation  ;  each  man  in  the  company  took  a  little  ball  of  soft 


112  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

bread,  which  they  were  to  throw  into  a  deep  basin,  which  a  waiter 
carried  round  upon  his  head ;  those  that  Hked  the  person  to  be 
chosen  dropped  their  ball  into  the  basin  without  altering  its  figure, 
and  those  who  disliked  him  pressed  it  betwixt  their  fingers,  and 
made  it  flat ;  and  this  signified  as  much  as  a  negative  voice.  And 
if  there  were  but  one  of  these  flattened  pieces  in  the  basin,  the 
suitor  was  rejected,  so  desirous  were  they  that  all  the  members  of 
the  company  should  be  agreeable  to  each  other.  The  basin  was 
called  caddie Jius,  and  the  rejected  candidate  had  a  name  thence 
derived.  Their  most  famous  dish  was  the  black  broth,  which  was 
so  much  valued  that  the  elderly  men  fed  only  upon  that,  leaving 
what  flesh  there  was  to  the  younger. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Contemporary  Sources  :  Fragments  of  Tyrtasus  ;  Inscriptions. 

Derivative   Sources :    Plutarch,  Lycurgus  (quotes   ancient  laws) ;   Xenophon 
(pseudo),  Polity  of  the  Lacedaemonians;  Aristotle,  Politics;  Thucydides,  I,  i8;- 
Herodotus, /rt.vj/w  ,■  Pausanias, /<7^j/w  ;  Strabo,  VIII. 

Modern  Authorities:  Early  Sparta^ — Botsford,  History,  chap,  iv;  Bury,  His- 
tory, chap,  iii;  Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  Band  I,  Kap.  iii,  §§  11-12;  Oman, 
History,  chaps,  vii-viii ;  Holm,  History,  Vol.  I,  chaps,  xv-xvi ;  Abbott,  History, 
Vol.  I,  chaps,  vi-viii ;  Curtius,  History,  Vol.  I,  Bk.  II,  chap,  i ;  Grote,  History, 
Vol.  II,  chaps,  vi-vii ;  Gilbert,  Constitutional  Antiquities  of  Athens  and  Sparta, 
pp.  1-81  ;  Greenidge,  Handbook  of  Greek  Constitutional  History,  chap,  v; 
K.  J.  Freeman,  Schools  of  Hellas,  Part  I. 

Constitutional  Development :  Holm,  Vol.  I,  chap,  xx ;  Whibley,  Greek  Oli- 
garchies, chap,  iii ;  Greenidge,  chap,  ii ;  Fowler,  The  City-State,  chaps,  iv-v ; 
Dickins,  "Growth  of  Spartan  Policy,"  /.  H.  S.,  1912,  pp.  1-42;  G.  F.  Hill, 
Historical  Greek  Coins. 


CHAPTER  VI 

ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY 

Early  Attica  and  union  under  Theseus  —  The  early  constitution — Draco's  legis- 
lation—  Solon  —  His  character  and  political  poems  —  Conditions  in  Athens  — 
Solon's  economic  reforms  as  archon —  Solon's  constitutional  reforms —  Summary 
of  his  work  —  Strife  after  his  magistracy  ended — Conquest  of  Eleusis  and  Sala- 
mis — Pisistratus  and  his  family  —  Pisistratus  —  Miltiades  in  the  North  —  The 
Pisistratidas  —  The  Alcmaeonidae,  " The  Accursed"  —  The  conspiracy  of  Cylon 
—  Cleisthenes  and  his  reforms  —  Further   Athenian   conquests  —  Chalcis  and 

Bceotia  —  ^Egina 

I,    Early  Attica  and  Union  under  Theseus 

The  long  continuity  of  occupation  of  Attica  was  a  generally 
accepted  view  among  the  ancients,  and  archaeological  discoveries 
have  gone  far  toward  showing  that  there  was  never  a  distinct 
break  from  the  earliest  times.  Thucydides  is  inclined  to  attribute 
it  to  the  character  of  the  country.  Many  little  settlements  of  remote 
antiquity  existed  throughout  Attica  before  the  traditional  time  of 
the  union  under  Theseus.  The  great  number  of  representations  of 
Theseus  and  his  exploits  on  the  pottery  of  Attica  shows  how  truly 
he  was  regarded  as  a  national  hero  by  the  Athenians.  No  semi- 
mythical,  semi-historical  figure  appears  with  greater  frequency. 

Thucydides,  I,  2 

The  goodness  of  the  land  favoured  the  aggrandisement  of  par- 
ticular individuals,  and  thus  created  faction  which  proved  a  fertile 
source  of  ruin.  It  also  invited  invasion.  Accordingly  Attica,  from 
the  poverty  of  its  soil  enjoying  from  a  very  remote  period  freedom 
from  faction,  never  changed  its  inhabitants.  And  here  is  no  in- 
considerable exemplification  of  my  assertion,  that  the  migrations 
were  the  cause  of  there  being  no  correspondent  growth  in  other 
parts.  The  most  powerful  victims  of  war  or  faction  from  the  rest 
of  Hellas  took  refuge  with  the  Athenians  as  a  safe  retreat ;  and  at 

"3 


114  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

an  early  period,  becoming  naturalised,  swelled  the  already  large 
population  of  the  city  to  such  a  height  that  Attica  became  at 
last  too  small  to  hold  them,  and  they  had  to  send  out  colonies 
to  Ionia. 

Herodotus,  I)  56 

His  inquiries  pointed  out  to  him  two  states  as  pre-eminent  above 
the  rest.  These  were  the  Lacedaemonians  and  the  Athenians,  the 
former  of  Doric  the  latter  of  Ionic  blood.  And  indeed  these  two 
nations  had  held  from  very  early  times  the  most  distinguished 
place  in  Greece,  the  one  being  a  Pelasgic  the  other  a  Hellenic 
people,  and  the  one  having  never  quitted  its  original  seats,  while 
the  other  had  been  excessively  migratory. 

Thucydides,  II,  14-15 

But  they  found  it  hard  to  move,  as  most  of  them  had  been 
always  used  to  live  in  the  country. 

From  very  early  times  this  had  been  more  the  case  with  the 
Athenians  than  with  others.  Under  Cecrops  and  the  first  kings, 
down  to  the  reign  of  Theseus,  Attica  had  always  consisted  of  a 
number  of  independent  townships,  each  with  its  own  town-hall  and 
magistrates.  Except  in  times  of  danger  the  king  at  Athens  was 
not  consulted  ;  in  ordinary  seasons  they  carried  on  their  govern- 
ment and  settled  their  affairs  without  his  interference ;  sometimes 
even  they  waged  war  against  him,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Eleusinians 
with  Eumolpus  against  Erechtheus.  In  Theseus,  however,  they 
had  a  king  of  equal  intelligence  and  power ;  and  one  of  the  chief 
features  in  his  organisation  of  the  country  was  to  abolish  the 
council-chambers  and  magistrates  of  the  petty  cities,  and  to  merge 
them  in  the  single  council-chamber  and  town-hall  of  the  present 
capital.  Individuals  might  still  enjoy  their  private  property  just  as 
before,  but  they  were  henceforth  compelled  to  have  only  one  polit- 
ical centre,  viz.  Athens  ;  which  thus  counted  all  the  inhabitants 
of  Attica  among  her  citizens,  so  that  when  Theseus  died  he  left  a 
great  state  behind  him.  Indeed,  from  him  dates  the  Synoecia,  or 
Feast  of  Union  ;  which  is  paid  for  by  the  state,  and  which  the 
Athenians  still  keep  in  honour  of  the  goddess. 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY        115 

Plutarch,  Theseus,  25 

Farther  yet  designing  to  enlarge  his  city,  he  invited  all  strangers 
to  come  and  enjoy  equal  privileges  with  the  natives,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  common  form.  Conic  hither,  all  ye  people,  was  the  words 
that  Theseus  proclaimed  when  he  thus  set  up  a  commonwealth,  in 
a  manner,  for  all  nations.  Yet  he  did  not  suffer  his  state,  by  the 
promiscuous  multitude  that  flowed  in,  to  be  turned  into  confusion 
and  be  left  without  any  order  or  degree,  but  was  the  first  that 
divided  the  Commonwealth  into  three  distinct  ranks,  the  noble- 
men, the  husbandmen,  and  artificers.  To  the  nobility  he  committed 
the  care  of  religion,  the  choice  of  magistrates,  the  teaching  and 
dispensing  of  the  laws,  and  interpretation  and  direction  in  all  sacred 
matters  ;  the  whole  city  being,  as  it  were,  reduced  to  an  exact 
equality,  the  nobles  excelling  the  rest  in  honour,  the  husbandmen 
in  profit,  and  the  artificers  in  number.  And  that  Theseus  was  the 
first,  who,  as  Aristotle  says,  out  of  an  inclination  to  popular  govern- 
ment, parted  with  the  regal  power.  Homer  also  seems  to  testify, 
in  his  catalogue  of  the  ships,  where  he  gives  the  name  of  People 
to  the  Athenians  only. 

He  also  coined  money,  and  stamped  it  with  the  image  of  an  ox, 
either  in  memory  of  the  Marathonian  bull,  or  of  Taurus,  whom  he 
vanquished,  or  else  to  put  his  people  in  mind  to  follow  husbandry  ; 
and  from  this  coin  came  the  expression  so  frequent  among  the 
Greeks,  of  a  thing  being  worth  ten  or  a  hundred  oxen.  After  this 
he  joined  Megara  to  Attica,  and  erected  that  famous  pillar  on 
the  Isthmus,  which  bears  an  inscription  of  two  lines,  showing  the 
bounds  of  the  two  countries  that  meet  there.  On  the  east  side 
the  inscription  is,  — 

Peloponnesus  there,  Ionia  here, 

and  on  the  west  side,  — 

Peloponnesus  here,  Ionia  there. 

He  also  instituted  the  games,  in  emulation  of  Hercules,  being 
ambitious  that  as  the  Greeks,  by  that  hero's  appointment,  celebrated 
the  Olympian  games  to  the  honor  of  Zeus,  so  by  his  institution, 
they  should  celebrate  the  Isthmian  to  the  honor  of  Poseidon. 


Ii6  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

The  pillar  on  the  Isthmus  with  the  inscription  on  each  side 
indicating  Peloponnesus  and  Ionia,  respectively,  undoubtedly  sug- 
gested to  Hadrian  the  adoption  of  similar  inscriptions  on  his  arch, 
which  stood  near  the  temple  of  Olympian  Zeus. 

On  the  northwest  front  the  inscription  reads,  "  This  is  Athens, 
the  ancient  city  of  Theseus" ;  on  the  southeast  front,  "  This  is  the 
city  of  Hadrian,  and  not  of  Theseus."^ 

II.    The  Early  Constitution 

The  discovery  of  the  manuscript  of  the  "  Constitution  of  Athens  " 
(first  published  in  1891)  was  of  the  greatest  value  to  historical 
students.  Whether  or  not  it  was  written  by  Aristotle  himself  makes 
little  difference  ;  it  is  certainly  a  contemporary  description  of  Athens 
in  the  fourth  century,  with  an  interesting  sketch  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  constitution  up  to  that  time.  As  might  be  expected, 
the  evidence  for  the  early  period  is  very  scanty. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  III 

Now,  the  form  of  the  old  government  before  the  time  of  Draco 
was  of  this  kind.  Officers  of  state  were  appointed  on  the  basis  of 
merit  and  wealth,  and  at  first  remained  in  office  for  life,  but  after- 
wards for  a  period  of  ten  years.  And  the  greatest  and  earliest  of 
the  officers  of  state  were  the  king,  and  commander-in-chief,  and 
archon  ;  and  earliest  of  these  was  the  office  of  king,  for  this  was 
established  at  the  beginning ;  next  followed  that  of  commander- 
in-chief,  owing  to  some  of  the  kings  proving  unwarlike,  and  it  was 
for  this  reason  that  they  sent  for  Ion  when  the  need  arose ;  and 
last  (of  the  three)  was  the  archonship  —  for  most  authorities  say 
it  was  established  in  the  time  of  Medon,  but  some  in  the  time  of 
Acastus  ;  and  they  adduce  as  evidence  the  fact  that  the  nine 
archons  swear  to  exercise  their  office  just  as  they  did  in  the  time 
of  Acastus  —  as  presumably  the  Codridae  retired  in  the  time  of 
his  kingship.   .   .  .    Now,  which  of  the  two  accounts  is  correct  is 

1  See  Frazer,  "  Pausanias,"  Vol.  II,  p.  i8S. 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY        li/ 

of  little  importance,  but  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  fact  having  actu- 
ally occurred  in  these  times  :  and  that  it  was  the  last  of  these 
offices  that  was  established,  there  is  further  evidence  .  .  .  for 
which  reason  it  is  only  recently  that  the  office  has  become  impor- 
tant, its  dignity  having  been  increased  by  the  privileges  that  have 
been  added  to  it.  Thesmothetae  were  appointed  many  years 
afterwards,  being  elected  to  their  offices  from  the  first  for  a  year, 
for  the  purpose  of  recording  the  enactments  in  writing,  and  pre- 
serving them  against  the  trial  of  such  as  transgressed  the  law  ; 
for  which  reason  it  was  the  sole  office  that  was  not  established  for 
more  than  a  year.  So  far,  therefore,  these  take  precedence  of 
others.  The  nine  archons  did  not  all  live  together,  but  the  king 
occupied  what  is  now  called  the  Boukolium,  near  the  Prytaneum 
(in  confirmation  of  which  even  to  this  day  the  marriage  of  the 
king's  wife  with  Dionysus  takes  place  here),  and  the  archon  resides 
in  the  Pr^'taneum,  and  the  commander-in-chief  in  the  Epilyceum. 
This  was  formerly  called  the  Polemarcheum,  but  from  the  time 
that  Epilycus,  when  polemarch,  rebuilt  and  furnished  it,  it  was 
called  Epilyceum  :  and  the  Thesmothet^  occupied  the  Thesmo- 
theteum.^  But  in  the  time  of  Solon  they  all  lived  together  in  the 
Thesmotheteum.  And  they  had  power  to  decide  law-suits  finally,  and 
not  as  now  merely  to  hold  a  preliminary  inquiry.  Such,  then,  were  the 
arrangements  in  respect  of  the  officers  of  state.  The  duty  of  the  coun- 
cil of  the  Areopagitas  was  to  jealously  guard  the  laws,  and  it  admin- 
istered most  of  the  affairs  of  state,  and  those  the  most  important,  both 
by  punishing  and  fining  all  offenders  with  authority ;  for  the  election 
of  the  archons  was  on  the  basis  of  merit  and  wealth,  and  of  them 
the  Areopagit^  were  composed  ;  this  is  the  reason  why  it  is  the 
only  office  that  continues  to  be  held  for  life  up  to  the  present  time. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  VHI 

For  in  old  days  the  council  on  Mars'  Hill  decided,  after  cita- 
tion, on  its  own  authority  who  was  the  proper  man  for  each  of 
the  offices  of  state,  and  invested  him  accordingly,  making  the 
appointment  for  a  year. 

1  Most  of  these  public  buildings  were  in  the  northwestern  or  northern  part  of  Athens  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  agora,  or  market  place.  For  description,  see  "  Pausanias,"  I,  xviii,  3, 
and  Frazer's  note. 


Ii8  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

DRACO'S  LEGISLATION 
A  distinct  advance  was  made  at  this  period.  Draco  was  appointed 
a  special  commissioner  to  revise  and  codify  the  laws  and  have  them 
properly  written  down.  We  see  in  his  constitution  indications  of 
a  democratic  assembly  of  four  hundred  and  one,  but  very  few  of 
his  laws  survive.  They  were  proverbially  severe,  and  it  seems 
probable  that  the  laws  did  not  originate  with  Draco  himself  but 
were  made  more  generally  known  through  his  efforts. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  IV 

Now,  this  is  a  sketch  of  the  first  form  of  government.  And 
after  this,  at  no  long  interval,  when  Aristaechmus  was  archon, 
Draco  made  his  laws  ;  and  this  constitution  was  as  follows.  Share 
in  the  government  was  assigned  to  those  who  provided  themselves 
with  arms  ;  and  they  chose  for  the  nine  archons  and  the  treasurers 
such  as  were  possessed  of  property  to  the  value  of  not  less  than 
ten  minae  free  of  all  encumbrances,  and  for  the  other  minor  offices 
such  as  provided  themselves  with  arms,  and  for  generals  and  com- 
manders of  cavalry  such  as  could  show  property  of  not  less  than  a 
hundred  minae  free  of  all  encumbrances,  and  children  born  in  lawful 
wedlock  above  ten  years  of  age  ;  these  were  to  be  the  presidents  of 
the  council  and  generals  and  commanders  of  cavalry  ...  up  to  the 
time  of  the  audit  of  their  accounts  .  .  .  and  receiving  from  the  same 
rating  as  the  generals  and  commanders  of  cavalry.  The  Council 
was  to  consist  of  four  hundred  and  one,  selected  by  lot  from  the 
whole  body  of  citizens  ;  such  as  were  over  thirty  years  of  age  were 
to  obtain  this  and  the  other  offices  by  lot,  and  the  same  man  was 
not  to  hold  office  twice  before  all  had  had  their  turn  ;  and  then 
appointment  was  to  be  made  afresh  by  lot.  If  any  member  of  the 
Council,  when  there  was  a  sitting  of  the  Council  or  Assembly,  was 
absent  from  the  meeting,  he  had  to  pay  a  fine,  the  Pentakosio- 
medimnus.(the  possessor  of  land  which  produced  five  hundred 
medimni  yearly)  three  drachmae,  the  Knight  two,  and  the  Zeugitae 
{those  who  possessed  a  team  of  oxen)  one.  And  the  council  of 
Areopagus  was  the  guardian  of  the  laws,  and  jealously  watched  the 
magistrates  to  see  that  they  administered  their  offices  according  to 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY        119 

the  laws.  And  an  injured  party  had  the  right  of  bringing  his  in- 
dictment before  the  council  of  the  Areopagitae,  on  showing  in  con- 
travention of  what  law  he  had  sustained  his  injury.  (But  all  this 
was  of  no  avail,  because)  the  lower  classes  were  bound  on  the 
security  of  their  persons,  as  has  been  said,  and  the  land  was  in 
the  hands  of  a  few. 

III.   Solon 

Although  the  legislation  of  Draco  had  been  a  step  in  advance, 
much  remained  to  be  done,  particularly  in  economic  reforms. 

Solon  devoted  his  poetic  gifts  to  the  criticism  and  encouragement 
of  his  fellow-citizens  and,  as  verse  rather  than  prose  was  still  the 
usual  vehicle  of  expression,  we  find  that  many  of  his  poems  read 
like  political  pamphlets.  His  own  statements  regarding  conditions 
in  Athens  show  that  the  city  was  in  a  bad  way,  due  to  faction,  class 
feeling,  and  other  evils. 

1.  HIS  CHARACTER  AND  POLITICAL  POEMS 
Plutarch,  Solofi,  2 

In  his  time,  as  Hesiod  says,  —  "  Work  was  a  shame  to  none," 
nor  was  distinction  made  with  respect  to  trade,  but  merchandise 
was  a  noble  calling,  which  brought  home  the  good  things  which 
the  barbarous  nations  enjoyed,  was  the  occasion  of  friendship  with 
their  kings,  and  a  great  source  of  experience.  Some  merchants 
have  built  great  cities,  as  Protis,  the  founder  of  Massilia,  to  whom 
the  Gauls,  near  the  Rhone,  were  much  attached.  Some  report,  also, 
that  Thales  and  Hippocrates  the  mathematician  traded  ;  and  that 
Plato  defrayed  the  charges  of  his  travels  by  selling  oil  in  Egypt. 

Plutarch,  Solon,  3 

At  first  he  used  his  poetry  only  in  trifles,  not  for  any  serious 
purpose,  but  simply  to  pass  away  his  idle  hours  ;  but  afterwards  he 
introduced  moral  sentences  and  state  matters,  which  he  did,  not  to 
record  them  merely  as  an  historian,  but  to  justify  his  own  actions, 
and  sometimes  to  correct,  chastise,  and  stir  up  the  Athenians  to 
noble  performances. 


120  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Solon  ^  Frag.  4 

By  the  ordinance  of  Zeus  and  the  blessed  immortals  our  city 
shall  never  perish,  for  Pallas  Athene  the  great-hearted  guardian, 
daughter  of  a  mighty  sire,  holds  her  protecting  hand  above  her  ;  — 
but  the  citizens  themselves  hearkening  to  the  voice  of  gain  wish 
to  destroy  the  great  city  in  their  senseless  folly,  and  unjust  is  the 
purpose  of  the  leaders  and  the  people  for  whom,  because  of  their 
overweening  insolence,  many  sorrows  are  in  store  ;  for  they  know 
not  how  to  keep  down  their  wanton  pride  nor  how  in  quietness  to 
give  the  grace  of  order  to  the  pleasures  of  the  banquet  as  they 
come.  But  in  their  wealth  so  undeserved  they  yield  to  injustice,  (?)i 
sparing  neither  the  treasures  of  the  gods  or  of  the  state  they  steal, 
pillaging  on  every  hand,  nor  do  they  guard  the  holy  foundations 
of  Justice,  who  though  silent  knows  what  they  do  and  what  they 
have  done,  and  in  time  comes  to  requite  in  full. 

These  evils  have  come  upon  the  city  like  an  incurable  wound, 
and  swiftly  she  has  fallen  to  base  slavery  which  awakens  discord 
among  kinsmen,  and  slumbering  war  which  destroyed  the  lovely 
youth  of  many  ;  the  well-beloved  city  is  soon  consumed  with  con- 
tests of  hostile  parties  dear  to  wrong-doers.  These  evils  are  rife 
among  the  people,  and  many  of  the  poor  go  to  a  foreign  land 
bound  and  sold  in  shameful  chains.  "  So  the  curse  that  is  on  the 
whole  state  follows  every  man  to  his  own  home  ;  no  more  can  the 
doors  of  his  courtyard  keep  it  out ;  but  over  the  high  fence  it  leaps 
and  hunts  him  down,  yea  though  he  hide  himself  in  the  innermost 
room  within." 

My  heart  bids  me  teach  the  Athenians  these  things  :  that  evil 
law  brings  most  evils  to  a  city  while  good  law  brings  good  order 
and  fits  all  things  together,  and  ever  places  fetters  on  the  unjust ; 
she  makes  the  rough  smooth,  stops  excess,  makes  insolence  to 
perish,  and  withers  budding  flowers  of  infatuation,  makes  straight 
all  crooked  judgments,  and  tames  arrogant  deeds,  stops  the  work 
of  sedition  and  the  bitter  anger  of  grievous  strife  ;  under  her  hand 
all  in  human  life  is  right  and  wise. 

1  The  text  is  very  bad  here. 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY        1 21. 

2.  CONDITIONS  IN  ATHENS 
Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  V 

Such  being  the  constitution  in  the  body  poHtic,  and  the  bulk  of 
the  people  being  in  bondage  to  .the  few,  the  people  was  in  a  state 
of  opposition  to  the  upper  classes.  As  strife  ran  high,  and  the  two 
parties  had  faced  each  other  for  a  considerable  time,  they  agreed 
to  choose  Solon  as  mediator  and  archon,  and  entrusted  the  consti- 
tution to  him  after  he  had  composed  a  poem  in  elegiac  metre,  of 
which  the  beginning  is  as  follows  : 

I  ponder,  and  within  my  soul  lie  woes, 

As  I  look  on  the  most  honourable  land  in  Ionia; 

for  he  ever  took  the  lead,  fighting  and  disputing  vigorously  for 
each  side  against  the  other,  and  afterwards  recommended  them  both 
to  put  an  end  to  the  existing  strife. 

3.  SOLON'S  ECONOMIC  REFORMS  AS  ARCHON 
Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  VI 

Now,  Solon,  when  he  had  got  to  be  at  the  head  of  affairs,  made 
the  people  free  both  for  the  present  and  the  future,  by  forbidding 
loans  on  the  security  of  the  person,  and  he  made  laws,  and  a 
cancelling  of  all  debts  both  private  and  public ;  this  they  call 
Seisachtheia  (the  disburdening  ordinance),  as  having  shaken  off 
their  burden. 

Plutarch,  So/on,  15 

For  the  first  thing  which  he  settled  was,  that  what  debts 
remained  should  be  forgiven,  and  no  man,  for  the  future,  should 
engage  the  body  of  his  debtor  for  security.  Though  some,  as 
Androtion,  affirm  that  the  debts  were  not  cancelled,  but  the  interest 
only  lessened,  which  sufficiently  pleased  the  people ;  so  that  they 
named  this  benefit  the  Seisacthea,  together  with  the  enlarging  their 
measures,  and  raising  the  value  of  their  money ;  for  he  made  a 
pound,  which  before  passed  for  seventy-three  drachmas,  go  for  a 
hundred  ;  so  that,  though  the  number  of  pieces  in  the  payment 
was  equal,  the  value  was  less  ;  which  proved  a  considerable  benefit 
to  those  that  were  to  discharge  great  debts,  and  no  loss  to  the 


122  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

creditors.  But  most  agree  that  it  was  the  taking  off  the  debts  that 
was  called  Seisacthea,  which  is  confirmed  by  some  places  in  his 
poem,  where  he  takes  honour  to  himself,  that  — 

The  mortgage-stones  that  covered  her,  by  me 
Removed,  —  the  land  that  was  a  slave  is  free; 

that  some  who  had  been  seized  for  their  debts  he  had  brought 
back  from  other  countries,  where  — 

...  so  far  their  lot  to  roam 
They  had  forgot  the  language  of  their  home ; 

and  some  he  had  set  at  liberty  — 

Who  here  in  shameful  servitude  were  held. 

Plutarch,  Solon,  i6 

In  this  he  pleased  neither  party,  for  the  rich  were  angry  for 
their  money,  and  the  poor  that  the  land  was  not  divided,  and, 
as  Lycurgus  ordered  in  his  commonwealth,  all  men  reduced  to 
equality.   .   .   . 

Solon  could  not  rise  to  that  in  his  polity,  being  but  a  citizen  of 
the  middle  classes  ;  yet  he  acted  fully  up  to  the  height  of  his 
power,  having  nothing  but  the  good-will  and  good  opinion  of  his 
citizens  to  rely  on  ;  and  that  he  offended  the  most  part,  who  looked 
for  another  result,  he  declares  in  the.  words  — 

Formerly  they  boasted  of  me  vainly ;  with  averted  eyes 

Now  they  look  askance  upon  me ;   friends  no  more,  but  enemies. 

And  yet  had  any  other  man,  he  says,  received  the  same  power  — 

He  would  not  have  forborne,  nor  let  alone, 
But  made  the  fattest  of  the  milk  his  own. 

Soon,  however,  becoming  sensible  of  the  good  that  was  done, 
they  laid  by  their  grudges,  made  a  public  sacrifice,  calling  it  Seisac- 
thea, and  chose  Solon  to  new-model  and  make  laws  for  the  com- 
monwealth, giving  him  the  entire  power  over  everything,  their 
magistracies,  their  assemblies,  courts,  and  councils  ;  that  he  should 
appoint  the  number,  times  of  meeting,  and  what  estate  they  must 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY         123 

have  that  could  be  capable  of  these,  and  dissolve  or  continue  any 
of  the  present  constitutions,  according  to  his  pleasure. 

Plutarch,  Solon,  17 

First,  then,  he  repealed  all  Draco's  laws,  except  those  concerning 
homicide,  because  they  were  too  severe,  and  the  punishments  too 
great ;  for  death  was  appointed  for  almost  all  offences,  insomuch 
that  those  that  were  convicted  of  idleness  were  to  die,  and  those 
that  stole  a  cabbage  or  an  apple  to  suffer  even  as  villains  that 
committed  sacrilege  or  murder.  So  that  Dcmades,  in  after  time,  was 
thought  to  have  said  very  happily,  that  Draco's  laws  were  written 
not  with  ink  but  blood  ;  and  he  himself,  being  once  asked  why  he 
made  death  the  punishment  of  most  offences,  replied,  "  Small 
ones  deserve  that,  and  I  have  no  higher  for  the  greater  crimes." 

4.  SOLON'S  CONSTITUTIONAL  REFORMS 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  VII 

So  he  established  a  constitution  and  made  other  laws,  and  they 
ceased  to  use  the  laws  of  Draco,  except  in  matters  of  homicide. 
They  inscribed  the  laws  on  the  tablets,  and  placed  them  in  the 
court  where  the  king  archon  sat,  and  all  swore  to  abide  by  them  ; 
and  the  nine  archons,  swearing  beside  the  stone,  declared  that  they 
would  make  an  offering  of  a  gold  statue  if  they  transgressed  any 
of  the  laws ;  hence  it  is  that  they  so  swear  even  to  this  day.  And 
he  ratified  the  laws  for  a  hundred  years,  and  constituted  the  gov- 
ernment in  the  following  way  :  He  divided  property  qualifications 
into  four  ratings,  just  as  a  division  had  existed  before,  viz.,  the 
Pentakosiomedimnus,  the  Knight,  the  Zeugites,  and  the  Thes 
(poorest  class).  He  assigned  as  officers  of  state  out  of  Pentakosio- 
medimni  and  Knights  and  Zeugitae,  the  nine  archons  and  treasurers, 
and  the  government-sellers  and  the  Eleven  and  the  Kolakratas, 
to  each  class  assigning  office  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  its 
assessment.  To  the  class  of  Thetes  he  gave  a  share  only  in  the 
Assembly  and  courts  of  justice.  And  all  had  to  class  as  Penta- 
kosiomedimni.who,  from  their  own  property,  made 'five  hundred 
measures,  dry  and  wet  combined,  and  in  the  class  of  Knights  such 
as  made  three  hundred,  or,  as  some  say,  were  able  to  keep  a 


124  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

horse  :  .  .  .  And  all  had  to  be  rated  as  Zeugitae  who  made  two 
hundred  measures  combined,  and  all  the  rest  as  Thetes,  having  no 
share  in  any  office  of  state  ;  .  .  . 

Aristotle,  Consfifiifioti  of  Athens,  VIII 

He  caused  the  officers  of  state  to  be  appointed  by  lot  from 
candidates  whom  each  of  the  tribes  selected.  For  each  selected 
ten  for  the  nine  archons  ;  hence  it  is  that  it  is  still  the  practice  of 
the  tribes  for  each  to  appoint  ten  by  lot,  and  then  to  appoint  by 
lot  from  them.   .   .  . 

Now,  there  were  four  tribes  just  as  before,  and  four  tribe-kings. 
Each  tribe  was  divided  into  three  Trittyes  (thirds  of  a  tribe)  and 
twelve  Naukrarias.  Magistrates  of  the  Naukrariae  were  appointed, 
viz.  the  Naukrari,  who  had  charge  of  the  current  revenues  and 
expenditure  ;  ...  He  made  the  Council  four  hundred,  a  hundred 
from  each  tribe,  and  he  assigned  to  the  council  of  the  Areopagitse 
the  duty  of  still  watching  over  the  laws  generally,  just  as  before  it 
had  been  the  overseer  of  the  administration,  and  jealously  guarded 
the  greater  number,  and  those  the  most  important,  of  the  interests 
of  the  citizens,  and  corrected  offenders,  having  authority  to  fine  and 
punish,  and  reported  to  the  state  the  punishments  it  inflicted,  without 
recording  the  reasons  of  those  punishments,  and  sat  in  judgment 
on  those  who  combined  for  the  overthrow  of  the  people,  in  con- 
formity with  Solon's  legislation.  Now,  these  were  the  duties  that 
he  assigned  in  their  case.  And  seeing  that  the  state  was  often 
torn  by  faction,  and  that  some  of  the  citizens  from  indifference 
stood  aloof,  of  his  own  motion  he  passed  a  law  specially  directed 
against  them  as  follows  —  that  anyone  who,  when  the  state  was 
divided  into  parties,  did  not  take  up  arms  and  side  with  one  or 
the  other,  should  be  deprived  of  his  political  rights,  and  have  no 
part  in  the  state. 

Such,  then,  were  his  institutions  regarding  the  officers  of  state. 
Now,  the  following  are  the  three  provisions  of  the  constitution  of 
Solon  which  appear  to  be  the  most  favourable  to  the  people  :  first 
and  foremost,  the  prohibition  of  loans  on  the  security  of  the  person  ; 
then  the  right  accorded  to  anyone  who  wished  to  seek  in  the  courts 
a  remedy  for  his  wrongs  ;  and  third  (by  which,  most  of  all,  they  say 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY        125 

the  masses  have  acquired  power),  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  court 
of  justice  ;  for  when  the  people  is  master  of  the  vote,  it  becomes 
master  of  the  government. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  X 

In  his  laws,  then,  he  seems  to  have  introduced  these  measures 
in  favour  of  the  people,  but  prior  to  his  legislation  to  have  instituted 
the  cancelling  of  debts,  and  afterwards  the  increase  in  measures  and 
weights,  as  well  as  in  the  current  coin.  For  it  was  in  his  time  also 
that  the  measures  were  made  larger  than  the  Pheidonean  standard, 
as  well  as  the  mina,  which  had  formerly  contained  about  seventy 
drachmas.  Now,  the  ancient  standard  coin  was  a  double  drachma. 
And  he  made  the  weight  for  the  current  coin  sixty  (-three)  minae 
to  the  talent,  and  additional  minas  were  assigned  to  the  stater  and 
all  other  weights. 

5.  SUMMARY  OF  HIS  WORK 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XII    • 

That  this  was  the  position  of  affairs  all  without  exception  agree, 
and  he  himself  in  his  poetry  refers  to  it  in  the  following  words  : 

For  to  the  people  I  gave  such  privilege  as  suffices, 

Neither  taking  away  from  or  aiming  at  honour. 

But  such  as  possessed  power,  and  from  their  wealth  were  leaders, 

Them  I  counselled  to  retain  nothing  unseemly. 

I  stood  with  my  mighty  shield  thrown  around  both, 

And  suffered  not  either  to  triumph  unrighteously. 

And  again,  read  where  he  speaks  about  such  as  wished  to  divide  the 
land  among  themselves  : 

And  they  came  on  the  spoil  with  a  wealth  of  hope, 

And  they  thought  each  of  them  to  find  great  prosperity, 

And  that  I,  though  talking  smoothly,  would  manifest  a  harsh  spirit. 

Vain  were  their  thoughts  then,  and  now  angered  with  me. 

With  eyes  askance  all  regard  me  like  enemies. 

Not  rightly ;  for  what  I  said,  with  the  help  of  the  gods,  I  have  accomplished ; 

But  other  things  I  was  attempting  in  vain,  nor  does  it  please  me 

To  do  aught  by  force  of  tyranny,  or  of  our  rich  fatherland 

That  the  bad  should  have  an  equal  share  with  the  good. 


126  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

6.  STRIFE  AFTER  HIS   MAGISTRACY  ENDED 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens^  XIII 

After  he  had  left  his  country,  although  the  city  was  still  in  an 
unquiet  state,  for  four  years  they  lived  in  peace  ;  but  in  the  fifth 
year  after  the  magistracy  of  Solon  they  did  not  appoint  an  archon, 
owing  to  the  factions  which  prevailed  ;  and  a  second  time  in  the 
fifth  year,  for  the  same  reason,  they  did  not  appoint  to  the  office. 
And  after  this,  in  the  same  period,  Damasias  was  elected  archon, 
and  continued  in  office  for  two  years  and  two  months,  until  he  was 
driven  from  it  by  force.  Then  they  decided,  on  account  of  the 
strength  of  party  feeling,  to  elect  ten  archons,  five  from  the  nobles, 
three  from  the  landowners,  and  two  from  the  handicraftsmen  ;  and 
these  held  office  the  year  after  Damasias,  thus  making  it  clear  that 
the  archon  possessed  the  greatest  power,  for  it  is  evident  that  they 
were  always  engaged  in  party  strife  about  this  office. 


IV.    Conquest  of  Eleusis  and  Salamis 

Athens  further  extended  her  power  at  the  expense  of  her  neigh- 
bors, first  by  subduing  the  Eleusinians,  then  by  wresting  Salamis 
from  the  Megarians  after  a  bitter  struggle,  incited  to  the  supreme 
effort  by  these  famous  verses  of  Solon. 

Paiisanias,  I,  xxxviii,  3 

In  a  battle  between  the  Eleusinians  and  the  Athenians,  there 
fell  Erechtheus,  king  of  Athens,  and  Immaradus,  son  of  Eumol- 
pus ;  and  peace  was  made  on  these  terms  :  the  Eleusinians  were 
to  perform  the  mysteries  by  themselves,  but  were  in  all  other 
respects  to  be  subject  to  the  Athenians. 

Pausanias,  I,  xl,  4 

In  the  temple  ^  itself  is  dedicated  the  bronze  beak  of  a  galley. 
They  say  they  took  tliis  ship  in  a  sea-fight  with  the  Athenians  off 
Salamis.  The  Athenians  admit  that  for  a  time  they  ceded  the 
island  to  the  Megarians  ;  but  they  say  that  afterwards  Solon  stirred 

1  Of  Zeus  at  Megara. 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY         127 

them  up  by  his  verses,  they  renewed  the  strife,  and,  being  victorious 
in  the  war,  regained  Salamis.  The  Megarians,  however,  assert  that 
exiles  from  Megara,  whom  they  name  Dorycleans,  went  to  the 
colonists  in  Salamis,  and  betrayed  the  island  to  the  Athenians. 

S(jIofi,  Frags.  1-2  (tr.  Wright) 

I  come  as  a  herald  from  lovely  Salamis,  with  a  song  on  my  lips 
instead  of  common  speech.  .  .  .  On  that  day  may  I  change  my 
country  and  be  a  citizen  of  Pholegandrus  or  of  Sicinus  but  not  of 
Athens  ;  for  the  moment  I  appear  men  will  say  :  It  is  an  Athenian, 
one  of  those  who  let  Salamis  go.  .  .  .  Forward  to  Salamis  !  Let 
us  fight  for  the  lovely  island  and  wipe  out  our  shame  and  disgrace. 

V.     PiSISTRATUS    AND    HIS    FAMILY 
1.   PISISTRATUS 

The  wars  of  Athens  gave  many  citizens  a  chance  to  distinguish 
themselves,  moreover  the  factions  and  uncertainty  which  prevailed 
offered  an  opportunity  for  a  strong  or  influential  man  to  establish 
himself  firmly  in  power. 

Pisistratus  is  an  excellent  example  of  this.  More  than  once  in 
his  chequered  career  he  succeeded  in  setting  up  a  tyranny  or  uncon- 
stitutional government.  Though  his  means  of  securing  power  were 
not  always  above  reproach,  he  made  an  excellent  ruler,  administer- 
ing the  laws  with  justice,  providing  work  for  the  unemployed, 
improving  economic  conditions,  and  keeping  the  citizens  too  fully 
occupied  to  trouble  much  about  government. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens^  XIV-XVI 

Peisistratus,  with  his  character  of  being  a  strong  partisan  of  the 
people  and  the  great  reputation  that  he  had  made  in  the  war  against 
the  Megarians,  by  covering  himself  with  wounds  and  then  pre- 
tending that  he  had  suffered  this  treatment  from  the  opposite  fac- 
tion, succeeded  in  persuading  the  people  to  give  him  a  body-guard, 
on  the  proposal  of  Aristion.  When  he  had  got  the  club-bearers, 
as  they  were  called,  he  rose  up  with  them  against  the  people,  and 


128   .  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

seized  the  Acropolis  in  the  thirty-second  year  after  the  passing  of 
the  laws  in  the  archonship  of  Komeas.  The  tale  goes  that  Solon, 
when  Peisistratus  asked  for  the  guard,  spoke  against  it,  and  said 
that  he  was  wiser  than  some  and  braver  than  others  ;  for  that  he 
was  wiser  than  all  such  as  did  not  know  that  Peisistratus  was  aim- 
ing at  absolute  power,  and  braver  than  such  as  who,  although  they 
knew  this,  held  their  peace.  When  his  words  availed  nothing, 
taking  up  his  arms  before  the  doors,  he  said  that  he  had  come  to 
the  rescue  of  his  country  as  far  as  he  was  able  (for  he  was  by  this 
time  an  exceedingly  old  man),  and  called  upon  everybody  else  to 
follow  his  example.  Solon  effected  nothing  at  the  time  by  his 
exhortations.  And  Peisistratus,  after  he  had  possessed  himself  of 
the  supreme  power,  administered  the  state  more  like  a  citizen  than 
a  tyrant.  But  as  his  power  was  not  yet  firmly  rooted,  the  parties 
of  Megakles  and  Lykurgus  came  to  an  agreement,  and  drove  him 
out  in  the  sixth  year  after  his  first  establishment  in  the  archonship 
of  Hegesias.  In  the  twelfth  year  after  this,  Megakles,  being  har- 
assed by  the  rival  parties,  again  made  proposals  to  Peisistratus  on 
the  condition  that  he  should  marry  his  daughter,  and  brought  him 
back  again  in  quaint  and  exceedingly  simple  fashion.  F'or  he  first 
spread  a  report  that  Athena  was  bringing  back  Peisistratus ;  then, 
having  found  a  tall  and  beautiful  woman  —  as  Herodotus  says,  of 
the  deme  of  the  Paeanes,  but  as  some  say,  a  Thracian,  a  seller  of 
garlands  of  Kolyttus,  whose  name  was  Phye  —  he  dressed  her  up 
so  as  to  look  like  the  goddess,  and  so  brought  back  the  tyrant  with 
him.  In  this  way  Peisistratus  made  his  entry,  riding  in  a  chariot 
with  the  woman  sitting  by  his  side,  and  the  citizens,  doing  obeisance, 
received  them  in  wonderment. 

His  first  return  from  exile  took  place  in  this  way.  After  this, 
when  he  was  driven  out  the  second  time,  about  the  seventh  year 
after  his  return  —  for  he  did  not  retain  his  power  long,  but  being 
unwilling  to  unite  himself  to  the  daughter  of  Megakles,  for  fear 
of  giving  offence  to  both  factions,  went  secretly  away  —  he  first 
took  part  in  colonizing  a  place  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Ther- 
maean  Gulf,  which  is  called  Rhsekelus,  and  thence  passed  on  to 
the  parts  about  Pangaeus.  There  he  made  money  and  hired  sol- 
diers, and  coming  to  Eretria  in  the  eleventh  year,  again  he  made 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY         129 

his  first  attempt  to  recover  his  power  by  force,  with  the  good-will 
of  many,  particularly  of  the  Thebans  and  Lygdamis  of  Naxos, 
besides  the  knights  who  were  at  the  head  of  the  government  in 
Eretria.  And  having  been  victorious  in  the  battle  at  Pallene,  and 
recovered  the  supreme  power,  he  stripped  the  people  of  their  arms, 
and  was  now  firmly  seated  in  the  tyranny.  He  went  to  Naxos  also 
and  established  Lygdamis  in  power.  Now,  he  stripped  the  people 
of  their  arms  after  the  following  fashion  :  Ordering  a  review  under 
arms  in  the  Anakeum,  he  pretended  to  make  an  attempt  to  harangue 
them,  but  spoke  in  a  low  voice  ;  and  when  they  said  they  could  not 
hear,  he  bade  them  go  up  to  the  propylaea  of  the  Acropolis,  that 
he  might  be  heard  the  better.  Whilst  he  continued  addressing 
them,  those  who  had  been  appointed  for  the  purpose  took  away  the 
arms  of  the  people,  and  shut  them  up  in  the  neighbouring  build- 
ings of  the  Theseum.  They  then  came  and  informed  Peisistratus. 
After  finishing  his  speech,  he  told  the  people  what  had  been  done 
about  their  arms,  saying  that  they  had  no  need  to  be  surprised  or 
out  of  heart,  but  bade  them  go  home  and  attend  to  their  own 
affairs,  adding  that  all  public  matters  would  now  be  his  concern. 
The  tyranny  of  Peisistratus  was  at  first  established  in  this  way, 
and  experienced  the  changes  just  enumerated.  As  we  have  said, 
Peisistratus  administered  the  government  with  moderation,  and 
more  like  a  citizen  than  a  tyrant.  For,  in  applying  the  laws,  he  was 
humane  and  mild,  and  towards  offenders  clement,  and,  further,  he 
used  to  advance  money  to  the  needy  for  their  agricultural  opera- 
tions, thus  enabling  them  to  carry  on  the  cultivation  of  their  lands 
uninterruptedly.  And  this  he  did  with  two  objects  :  that  they 
might  not  live  in  the  city,  but  being  scattered  over  the  country, 
and  enjoying  moderate  means  and  engaged  in  their  own  affairs, 
they  might  have  neither  the  desire  nor  the  leisure  to  concern  them- 
selves with  public  matters.  At  the  same  time  he  had  the  advantage 
of  a  greater  revenue  from  the  careful  cultivation  of  the  land  ;  for 
he  took  a  tithe  of  the  produce.  It  was  for  this  reason,  too,  that  he 
instituted  jurors  throughout  the  demes,  and  often,  leaving  the 
capital,  made  tours  in  the  country,  seeing  matters  for  himself,  and 
reconciling  such  as  had  differences,  so  that  they  might  have  no 
occasion  to  come  to  the  city  and  neglect  their  lands.    It  was  on  such 


1^0  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

a  tour  that  the  incident  is  said  to  have  occurred  about  the  man  in 
Hymettus,  who  was  cultivating  what  was  afterwards  called  the 
"  No-Tax- Land."  For  seeing  a  man  delving  at  rocks  with  a  wooden 
peg  and  working  away,  he  wondered  at  his  using  such  a  tool,  and 
bade  his  attendants  ask  what  the  spot  produced.  "'  Every  ill  and 
every  woe  under  the  sun,"  replied  the  man,  "and  Peisistratus 
must  take  his  tithe  of  these  ills  and  these  woes."  Now,  the  man 
made  this  answer  not  knowing  who  he  was  ;  but  Peisistratus, 
pleased  at  his  boldness  of  speech  and  love  of  work,  gave  him  im- 
munity from  all  taxes.  And  he  never  interfered  with  the  people 
in  any  other  way  indeed  during  his  rule,  but  ever  cultivated  peace 
and  watched  over  it  in  times  of  tranquillity.  And  this  is  the  reason 
why  it  often  passed  as  a  proverb  that  the  tyranny  of  Peisistratus 
was  the  life  of  the  Golden  Age  ;  for  it  came  to  pass  afterwards, 
through  the  insolence  of  his  sons,  that  the  government  became 
much  harsher.  But  what  more  than  any  other  of  his  qualities  made 
him  a  favourite  was  his  popular  sympathies  and  kindness  of  dis- 
position. For  while  in  all  other  matters  it  was  his  custom  to  govern 
entirely  according  to  the  laws,  so  he  never  allowed  himself  any 
unfair  advantage,  and  on  one  occasion  when  he  was  cited  before  the 
Areopagus  on  a  charge  of  murder,  he  appeared  himself  in  his  own  de- 
fence, and  his  accuser,  getting  frightened,  withdrew  from  the  suit.  It 
was  for  such  reasons  also,  that  he  remained  tyrant  for  a  long  period, 
and  when  he  lost  his  power  easily  recovered  it  again  ;  for  most  of  the 
upper  classes  and  of  the  popular  side  desired  it,  since  he  helped  the 
one  by  his  intercourse  with  them,  and  the  other  by  his  assistance  in 
their  private  affairs,  and  from  his  natural  disposition  could  adapt 
himself  to  both.  The  laws  of  the  Athenians  regarding  tyrants  were 
mild  in  these  times,  all  of  them,  and  particularly  the  one  relating  to 
any  attempt  at  tyranny,  for  their  law  stood  as  follows :  "These  are  the 
ordinances  of  the  Athenians,  inherited  from  their  fathers  :  whoever 
rises  up  to  make  himself  a  tyrant,  or  assists  in  establishing  a  tyranny, 
shall  be  deprived  of  his  political  rights,  both  himself  and  his  family." 

Herodotus,  I,  59 

This  Pisistratus,  at  a  time  when  there  was  civil  contention  in 
Attica  between  the  party  of  the  Sea-coast  headed  by  Megacles  the 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY        13I 

son  of  Alcmaeon,  and  that  of  the  Plain  headed  by  Lycurgus,  one 
of  the  Aristolaids,  formed  the  project  of  making  himself  tyrant, 
and  with  this  view  created  a  third  party.  Gathering  together  a 
band  of  partisans,  and  giving  himself  out  for  the  protector  of  the 
Highlanders,  he  contrived  the  following  stratagem.  He  wounded 
himself  and  his  mules,  and  then  drove  his  chariot  into  the  market- 
place, professing  to  have  just  escaped  an  attack  of  his  enemies, 
who  had  attempted  his  life  as  he  was  on  his  way  into  the  country. 
He  besought  the  people  to  assign  him  a  guard  to  protect  his 
person,  reminding  them  of  the  glory  which  he  had  gained  when 
he  led  the  attack  upon  the  Megarians,  and  took  the  town  of 
Nisasa,  at  the  same  time  performing  many  other  exploits.  The 
Athenians,  deceived  by  his  story,  appointed  him  a  band  of 
citizens  to  serve  as  a  guard,  who  were  to  carry  clubs  instead  of 
spears,  and  to  accompany  him  wherever  he  went.  Thus  strength- 
ened, Pisistratus  broke  into  revolt  and  seized  the  citadel.  In  this 
way  he  acquired  the  sovereignty  of  Athens,  which  he  continued  to 
hold  without  disturbing  the  previously  existing  offices  or  altering 
any  of  the  laws.  He  administered  the  state  according  to  the 
established  usages,  and  his  arrangements  were  wise  and  salutary. 

Herodotus^  I,  64 

Upon  this  he  set  himself  to  root  his  power  more  firmly,  by  the 
aid  of  a  numerous  body  of  mercenaries,  and  by  keeping  up  a  full  ex- 
chequer, partly  supplied  from  native  sources,  partly  from  the  coun- 
tries about  the  river  Strymon.  He  also  demanded  hostages  from  many 
of  the  Athenians  who  had  remained  at  home,  and  not  left  Athens  at 
his  approach  ;  and  these  he  sent  to  Naxos,  which  he  had  conquered 
by  force  of  arms,  and  given  over  into  the  charge  of  Lygdamis. 

2.  MILTIADES  IN  THE  NORTH 
In  the  meantime  Athens  had  been  strengthening  her  hold  on 
the  Chersonese  chiefly  through  the  agency  of  Miltiades.  His  dis- 
tinguished family  had  already  played  an  important  part  in  affairs, 
and  Miltiades,  finding  that  Athens  was  not  large  enough  for  him 
and  Pisistratus  at  the  same  time,  withdrew  to  the  north,  where  he 
established  most  valuable  connections. 


132  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Herodotus,  VI,  34-39 

Up  to  this  time  the  cities  of  the  Chersonese  had  been  under 
the  government  of  Miltiades,  the  son  of  Cimon,  and  grandson  of 
Stesagoras,  to  whom  they  had  descended  from  Miltiades,  the  son 
of  Cypselus,  .   .  . 

Now  Pisistratus  was  at  this  time  sole  lord  of  Athens ;  but 
Miltiades,  the  son  of  Cypselus,  was  likewise  a  person  of  much 
distinction.  He  belonged  to  a  family  which  was  wont  to  contend 
in  the  four-horse  chariot-races,  and  traced  its  descent  to  yEacus 
and  Egina,  but  which,  from  the  time  of  Philasas,  the  son  of  Ajax, 
who  was  the  first  Athenian  citizen  of  the  house,  had  been  natu- 
ralised at  Athens.  It  happened  that  as  the  Dolonci  passed  his 
door  Miltiades  was  sitting  in  his  vestibule,  which  caused  him  to 
remark  them,  dressed  as  they  were  in  outlandish  garments,  and 
armed  moreover  with  lances.  He  therefore  called  to  them,  and, 
on  their  approach,  invited  them  in,  offering  them  lodging  and 
entertainment.  The  strangers  accepted  his  hospitality,  and,  after 
the  banquet  was  over,  they  laid  before  him  in  full  the  directions 
of  the  oracle,  and  besought  him  on  their  own  part  to  yield  obedi- 
ence to  the  god,  Miltiades  was  persuaded  ere  they  had  done 
speaking ;  for  the  government  of  Pisistratus  was  irksome  to  him, 
and  he  wanted  to  be  beyond  the  tyrant's  reach.  He  therefore 
went  straightway  to  Delphi,  and  inquired  of  the  oracle  whether 
he  should  do  as  the  Dolonci  desired. 

As  the  Pythoness  backed  their  request,  Miltiades,  son  of 
Cypselus,  who  had  already  won  the  four-horse  chariot-race  at 
Olympia,  left  Athens,  taking  with  him  as  many  of  the  Athenians 
as  liked  to  join  in  the  enterprise,  and  sailed  away  with  the 
Dolonci,  On  his  arrival  at  the  Chersonese,  he  was  made  king 
by  those  who  had  invited  him.  After  this  his  first  act  was  to 
build  a  wall  across  the  neck  of  the  Chersonese  from  the  city  of 
Cardia  to  Pactya,  to  protect  the  country  from  the  incursions  and 
ravages  of  the  Apsinthians,  The  breadth  of  the  isthmus  at  this 
part  is  thirty-six  furlongs,  the  whole  length  of  the  peninsula  within 
the  isthmus  being  four  hundred  and  twenty  furlongs. 

When  he  had  finished  carrying  the  wall  across  the  isthmus, 
and  had  thus  secured  the  Chersonese  against  the  Apsinthians, 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH   CENTURY         133 

Miltiades  proceeded  to  engage  in  other  wars,  and  first  of  all 
attacked  the  Lampsacenians  ;  but  falling  into  an  ambush  which 
they  had  laid  he  had  the  misfortune  to  be  taken  prisoner.  Now 
it  happened  that  Miltiades  stood  high  in  the  favour  of  Croesus, 
king  of  Lydia.  .  .  . 

Thus  did  Miltiades,  by  the  help  of  Croesus,  escape  this  danger. 
Some  time  afterwards  he  died  childless,  leaving  his  kingdom  and 
his  riches  to  Stesagoras,  who  was  the  son  of  Cimon,  his  half- 
brother.  Ever  since  his  death  the  people  of  the  Chersonese  have 
offered  him  the  customar)^  sacrifices  of  a  founder ;  and  they  have 
further  established  in  his  honour  a  g}''mnic  contest  and  a  chariot- 
race,  in  neither  of  which  is  it  lawful  for  any  Lampsacenian  to 
contend.  .   .  . 

Thus  died  Stesagoras ;  and  upon  his  death  the  Pisistratidae 
fitted  out  a  trireme,  and  sent  Miltiades,  the  son  of  Cimon,  and 
brother  of  the  deceased,  to  the  Chersonese,  that  he  might  under- 
take the  management  of  affairs  in  that  quarter. 

3.  THE  PISISTRATID.'E 

After  the  death  of  Pisistratus  his  sons,  Hippias  and  Hippar- 
chus,  wished  to  keep  the  tyranny  in  the  family.  There  seems  to 
be  confusion  in  some  of  the  accounts.  Evidently  the  brothers  were 
ruling  moderately  when  a  personal  quarrel  resulted  in  the  murder 
of  Hipparchus  by  Harmodius  and  Aristogiton.  This  led  to  great 
oppression  and  severity  on  the  part  of  the  survdvor,  Hippias,  and 
he  became  so  unpopular  that  he  was  forced  into  exile  and  with- 
drew to  Sigeum,  an  Athenian  stronghold  (see  above,  pp.  74-76), 
until  the  time  when  he  returned  in  company  with  the  Medes  against 
his  native  land. 

The  people  now  began  to  feel  very  bitter  about  tyranny  and  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  they  had  had  no  grudge  against  Hipparchus, 
and  that  some  of  the  descendants  of  Pisistratus  were  honored  in 
Athens  and  took  a  prominent  part  in  public  affairs  as  is  attested 
by  the  statement  of  Thucydides  and  by  a  well-known  inscription, 


134  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

they  identified  the  death  of  Hipparchus  with  the  end  of  tyranny 
and  celebrated  the  event  in  verse  of  all  sorts,  from  the  stately,  dig- 
nified epigram  of  Simonides  to  the  popular  drinking  song  about 
Harmodius  and  Aristogiton  v^hich  went  the  rounds  of  banquet 
tables  for  generations  ;  while  the  statues  of  the  tyrannicides  set  up 
in  the  market  place  were  more  popular  than  those  of  any  other 
national  heroes,  were  copied  over  and  over,  and  when  the  originals 
were  carried  off  by  Xerxes  they  were  replaced  by  copies  that  served 
as  an  ever-present  reminder  to  the  Athenians  that  tyranny  and 
tyrants  had  no  place  among  them.^ 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XVIII 

Hippias  and  Hipparchus  were  at  the  head  of  affairs  by  right  of 
their  claims  and  their  ages ;  Hippias,  being  the  elder,  and  by 
nature  fitted  for  state  affairs,  and  endowed  with  good  sense,  pre- 
sided over  the  government.  But  Hipparchus  was  fond  of  trifling, 
amorous,  and  a  votary  of  the  Muses  ;  it  was  he  who  sent  for  Anac- 
reon  and  Simonides,  and  the  rest  of  the  poets,  with  their  com- 
panions. .  .  .  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton  were  incited  to  do  their 
deed  in  conjunction  with  many  of  their  fellow-citizens.  The  cele- 
bration of  the  Panathenaea  was  proceeding,  and  they  were  lying  in 
wait  for  Hippias  on  the  Acropolis  (now,  he  happened  to  be  follow- 
ing whilst  Hipparchus  was  getting  the  procession  ready),  when 
they  saw  one  of  their  fellow-conspirators  in  friendly  conversation 
with  Hippias  ;  thinking  that  he  was  turning  informer,  and  wishing 
to  do  something  before  they  were  arrested,  they  descended  from  the 
Acropolis,  and  without  waiting  for  the  rest  of  the  conspirators,  killed 
Hipparchus  by  the  Leokoreum  as  he  was  arranging  the  procession. 
Thus  they  ruined  the  whole  plot,  and  of  their  number  Harmodius 
was  straightway  killed  by  the  spearmen,  and  Aristogeiton  was  sub- 
sequently apprehended,  and  for  a  long  time  subjected  to  outrage. 

Thucydides,  VI,  54 

Indeed,  the  daring  action  of  Aristogiton  and  Harmodius  was 
undertaken  in  consequence  of  a  love  affair,  which  I  shall  relate  at 

1  See  Pausanias,  I,  viii,  5,  and  Frazer's  note. 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY         135 

some  length,  to  show  that  the  Athenians  are  not  more  accurate 
than  the  rest  of  the  world  in  their  accounts  of  their  own  tyrants 
and  of  the  facts  of  their  own  history.  Indeed,  generally  their  gov- 
ernment was  not  grievous  to  the  multitude,  or  in  any  way  odious 
in  practice  ;  and  these  tyrants  cultivated  wisdom  and  virtue  as 
much  as  any,  and  without  exacting  from  the  Athenians  more  than 
a  twentieth  of  their  income,  splendidly  adorned  their  city,  and  car- 
ried on  their  wars,  and  provided  sacrifices  for  the  temples.  For 
the  rest,  the  city  was  left  in  full  enjoyment  of  its  existing  laws, 
except  that  care  was  always  taken  to  have  the  offices  in  the  hands 
of  some  one  of  the  family.  Among  those  of  them  that  held  the 
yearly  archonship  at  Athens  was  Pisistratus,  son  of  the  tyrant 
Hippias,  and  named  after  his  grandfather,  who  dedicated  during 
his  term  of  office  the  altar  to  the  twelve  gods  in  the  market-place, 
and  that  of  Apollo  in  the  Pythian  precinct.  The  Athenian  people 
afterwards  built  on  to  and  lengthened  the  altar  in  the  market- 
place, and  obliterated  the  inscription  ;  but  that  in  the  Pythian 
precinct  can  still  be  seen,  though  in  faded  letters,  and  is  to  the 
following  effect :  — 

Pisistratus,  the  son  of  Hippias, 

Set  up  this  record  of  his  archonship 

In  precinct  of  Apollo  Pythias. 

Hiiks  and  Hill ,  i o 

Pisistratus,  son  of  Hippias,  set  up  this  memorial  of  his  rule  in 
the  precinct  of  Pythian  Apollo. 

T/iiicydides,  VI,  59 

In  this  way  offended  love  first  led  Harmodius  and  Aristogiton 
to  conspire,  and  the  alarm  of  the  moment  to  commit  the  rash 
action  recounted.  After  this  the  tyranny  pressed  harder  on  the 
Athenians,  and  Hippias,  now  grown  more  fearful,  put  to  death 
many  of  the  citizens,  and  at  the  same  time  began  to  turn  his  eyes 
abroad  for  a  refuge  in  case  of  revolution.  Thus,  although  an 
Athenian,  he  gave  his  daughter,  Archedice,  to  a  Lampsacene, 
iCantides,  son  of  the  tyrant  of  Lampsacus,  seeing  that  they  had 


136  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

great  influence  with  Darius,    And  there  is  her  tomb  in  Lampsacus 
with  this  inscription  :  — 

Arcliedice  lies  buried  in  this  earthy 
Hippias  her  sire,  and  Athens  gave  her  bif'th; 
*  Unto  her  bosom  pride  was  71  ever  known, 

Though  daughter,  wife,  and  sister  to  the  throne. 

Herodotus,  V,  55 

After  the  death  of  Hipparchus  (the  son  of  Pisistratus,  and 
brother  of  the  tyrant  Hippias),  who,  in  spite  of  the  clear  warning 
he  had  received  concerning  his  fate  in  a  dream,  was  slain  by  Har- 
modius  and  Aristogeiton  (men  both  of  the  race  of  the  Gephyraeans), 
the  oppression  of  the  Athenians  continued  by  the  space  of  four 
years ;  and  they  gained  nothing,  but  were  worse  used  than  before. 

Simo?iides,  Frag.  131  (tr.  Wright) 

For  the  Athenians  a  great  light  dawned  on  the  day  when  they 
slew  Hipparchus, 

Skolion,  Ilarmodius  and  Aristogiton  (Bergk,  Poetae  Lyrici  Graeci,  9) 
In  a  myrtle  branch  shall  I  carry  my  sword 
Like  Harmodius  and  Aristogiton 
When  they  slew  the  tyrant 
And  gave  equal  laws  to  all  in  Athens, 

Dearest  Harmodius,  thou  didst  not  die  anywhere 
And  they  say  thou  art  in  the  islands  of  the  blest, 
Where  is  the  swift-footed  Achilles 
And  noble  Diomede  son  of  Tydeus, 

In  a  myrtle  branch  shall  I  carry  my  sword 
Like  Harmodius  and  Aristogiton 
When  at  the  sacrifices  of  Athena 
They  slew  Hipparchus  the  tyrant. 

Your  fame  shall  be  eternal  and  forever, 
Dearest  Harmodius  and  Aristogiton, 
Because  you  slew  the  tyrant 
And  gave  equal  laws  to  all  in  Athens. 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY         137 

Thiicydides,  VI,  59 

Hippias,  after  reigning  three  years  longer  over  the  Athenians, 
was  deposed  in  the  fourth  by  the  Lacedaemonians  and  the  banished 
Alcmaeonidae,  and  went  with  a  safe  conduct  to  Sigeum,  and  to 
yEantides  at  Lampsacus,  and  from  thence  to  King  Darius  ;  from 
whose  court  he  set  out  twenty  years  after,  in  his  old  age,  and 
came  with  the  Medes  to  Marathon. 

Herodotus,  VI,  107 

The  barbarians  were  conducted  to  Marathon  by  Hippias,  the 
son  of  Pisistratus,  who  the  night  before  had  seen  a  strange  vision 
in  his  sleep.  He  dreamt  of  lying  in  his  mother's  arms,  and  con- 
jectured the  dream  to  mean  that  he  would  be  restored  to  Athens, 
recover  the  power  which  he  had  lost,  and  afterwards  live  to  a  good 
old  age  in  his  native  country.  Such  was  the  sense  in  which  he 
interpreted  the  vision.  He  now  proceeded  to  act  as  guide  to  the 
Persians  ;  and,  in  the  first  place,  he  landed  the  prisoners  taken 
from  Eretria  upon  the  island  that  is  called  /Egileia,  a  tract  belong- 
ing to  the  Styreans,  after  which  he  brought  the  fleet  to  anchor  off 
Marathon,  and  marshalled  the  bands  of  the  barbarians  as  they 
disembarked. 


VI.    The  Alcm.eonid.e,  "  The  Accursed  " 

In  the  meantime  the  Pisistratidae  and  their  influence  were  being 
crowded  out  by  other  families,  some  of  which  had  been  of  long- 
standing importance. 

The  Alcmaeonidae  in  spite  of  being  "  accursed  "  were  too  im- 
portant, too  prominent,  and  too  generous  to  be  kept  out  of  affairs 
for  long,  and  they  generally  had  a  hand  in  most  matters.  The 
circumstances  of  the  curse  being  laid  upon  them  is  told  in  the 
story  of  Cylon  and  his  conspiracy.    (See  pp.  138-140.) 

Hero  dot  us,  V,  62-63 

Upon  the  death  of  Hipparchus,  Hippias,  who  was  king,  grew 
harsh  towards  the  Athenians  ;  and  the  Alcmaeonidae,  an  Athenian 


138  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

family  which  had  been  banished  by  the  Pisistratidae,  joined  the 
other  exiles,  and  endeavoured  to  procure  their  own  return,  and  to 
free  Athens,  by  force.  They  seized  and  fortified  Leipsydrium 
above  Paeonia,  and  tried  to  gain  their  object  by  arms  ;  but  great 
disasters  befell  them,  and  their  purpose  remained  unaccomplished. 
They  therefore  resolved  to  shrink  from  no  contrivance  that  might 
bring  them  success  ;  and  accordingly  they  contracted  with  the 
Amphictyons  to  build  the  temple  which  now  stands  at  Delphi, 
but  which  in  those  days  did  not  exist.  Having  done  this,  they 
proceeded,  being  men  of  great  wealth  and  members  of  an  ancient 
and  distinguished  family,  to  build  the  temple  much  more  magnifi- 
cently than  the  plan  obliged  them.  Besides  other  improvements, 
instead  of  the  coarse  stone  whereof  by  the  contract  the  temple  was 
to  have  been  constructed,  they  made  the  facings  of  Parian  marble. 
These  same  men,  if  we  may  believe  the  Athenians,  during 
their  stay  at  Delphi  persuaded  the  Pythoness  by  a  bribe  to  tell  the 
Spartans,  whenever  any  of  them  came  to  consult  the  oracle,  either 
on  their  own  private  affairs  or  on  the  business  of  the  state,  that 
they  must  free  Athens.  So  the  Lacedaemonians,  when  they  found 
no  answer  ever  returned  to  them  but  this,  sent  at  last  Anchimolius, 
the  son  of  Aster  —  a  man  of  note  among  their  citizens  —  at  the 
head  of  an  army  against  Athens,  with  orders  to  drive  out  the 
Pisistratidae,  albeit  they  were  bound  to  them  by  the  closest  ties 
of  friendship. 

THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  CYLON 
T/iucydides,  I,  126 

In  former  generations  there  was  an  Athenian  of  the  name  of 
Cylon,  a  victor  at  the  Olympic  games,  of  good  birth  and  powerful 
position,  who  had  married  a  daughter  of  Theagenes,  a  Megarian, 
at  that  time  tyrant  of  Megara.  Now  this  Cylon  was  inquiring  at 
Delphi ;  when  he  was  told  by  the  god  to  seize  the  Acropolis  of 
Athens  on  the  grand  festival  of  Zeus.  Accordingly,  procuring  a 
force  from  Theagenes  and  persuading  his  friends  to  join  him, 
when  the  Olympic  festival  in  Peloponnese  came,  he  seized  the 
Acropolis,  with  the  intention  of  making  himself  tyrant,  thinking 
that  this  was  the  grand  festival  of  Zeus,  and  also  an  occasion  ap- 
propriate for  a  victor  at  the  Olympic  games.    Whether  the  grand 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY         139 

festival  that  was  meant  was  in  Attica  or  elsewhere  was  a  question 
which  he  never  thought  of,  and  which  the  oracle  did  not  offer  to 
solve.  For  the  Athenians  also  have  a  festival  which  is  called  the 
grand  festival  of  Zeus  Meilichios  or  Gracious,  viz.  the  Diasia.  It 
is  celebrated  outside  the  city,  and  the  whole  people  sacrifice  not 
real  victims  but  a  number  of  bloodless  offerings  peculiar  to  the 
country.  However,  fancying  he  had  chosen  the  right  time,  he 
made  the  attempt.  As  soon  as  the  Athenians  perceived  it,  they 
flocked  in,  one  and  all,  from  the  countr\^,  and  sat  down,  and  laid 
siege  to  the  citadel.  But  as  time  went  on,  weary  of  the  labour  of 
blockade,  most  of  them  departed  ;  the  responsibility  of  keeping 
guard  being  left  to  the  nine  archons,  with  plenary  powers  to  ar- 
range everything  according  to  their  good  judgment.  It  must  be 
known  that  at  that  time  most  political  functions  were  discharged 
by  the  nine  archons.  Meanwhile  Cylon  and  his  besieged  com- 
panions were  distressed  for  want  of  food  and  water.  Accordingly 
Cylon  and  his  brother  made  their  escape  ;  but  the  rest  being  hard 
pressed,  and  some  even  dying  of  famine,  seated  themselves  as  sup- 
pliants at  the  altar  in  the  Acropolis,  The  Athenians  who  were 
charged  with  the  duty  of  keeping  guard,  when  they  saw  them  at 
the  point  of  death  in  the  temple,  raised  them  up  on  the  under- 
standing that  no  harm  should  be  done  to  them,  led  them  out  and 
slew  them.  Some  who  as  they  passed  by  took  refuge  at  the  altars 
of  the  awful  goddesses  were  despatched  on  the  spot.  From  this 
deed  the  men  who  killed  them  were  called  accursed  and  guilty 
against  the  goddess,  they  and  their  descendants.  Accordingly 
these  cursed  ones  were  driven  out  by  the  Athenians,  driven  out 
again  by  Cleomenes  of  Lacedaemon  and  an  Athenian  faction  ;  the 
living  were  driven  out,  and  the  bones  of  the  dead  were  taken  up ; 
thus  they  were  cast  out.  For  all  that,  they  came  back  afterguards, 
and  their  descendants  are  still  in  the  city. 

Herodotus,  V,  j  i 

The  way  in  which  "  The  Accursed  "  at  Athens  got  their  name, 
was  the  following.  There  was  a  certain  Athenian  called  Cylon,  a 
victor  at  the  Olympic  games,  who  aspired  to  the  sovereignty,  and 
aided  by  a  number  of  his  companions,  who  were  of  the  same  age 


I40  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

with  himself,  made  an  attempt  to  seize  the  citadel.  But  the  attack 
failed;  and  Cylon  became  a  suppliant  at  the  image.  Hereupon  the 
Heads  of  the  Naucraries,  who  at  that  time  bore  rule  in  Athens, 
induced  the  fugitives  to  remove  by  a  promise  to  spare  their  lives. 
Nevertheless  they  were  all  slain  ;  and  the  blame  was  laid  on  the 
Alcmaeonidas.    All  this  happened  before  the  time  of  Pisistratus. 


Vn.    Cleisthenes  and  his  Reforms 

Cleisthenes  was  at  this  time  the  leading  member  of  the  family, 
and  when  he  gained  power  he  instituted  constitutional  reforms 
which  were  of  lasting  value,  the  most  important  being  the  division 
of  the  citizens  into  ten  tribes  and  the  introduction  of  ostracism. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  ostracism  among  the  Greeks  did 
not  imply  the  disgrace  which  we  attach  to  it.  It  carried  no  reflec- 
tion on  the  moral  character  of  the  person  ;  it  was  simply  a  con- 
venient way  of  getting  rid  of  a  politician  who  was  thought  to  have 
too  much  influence  or  to  be  otherwise  dangerous. 

There  still  exist  some  potsherds  with  the  names  of  those  to 
be  ostracized  scratched  upon  them,  distinguished  statesmen  like 
Megacles,  Xanthippus,  and  Themistocles,  two  of  whom  are  men- 
tioned in  the  quotation  from  Aristotle. 

Herodotus^  V,  66-67,  69 

The  power  of  Athens  had  been  great  before ;  but,  now  that  the 
tyrants  were  gone,  it  became  greater  than  ever.  The  chief  author- 
ity was  lodged  with  two  persons,  Clisthenes,  of  the  family  of  the 
Alcmseonids,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the  persuader  of  the 
Pythoness,  and  Isagoras,  the  son  of  Tisander,  who  belonged  to  a 
noble  house,  but  whose  pedigree  I  am  not  able  to  trace  further. 
Howbeit  his  kinsmen  offer  sacrifice  to  the  Carian  Zeus.  These 
two  men  strove  together  for  the  mastery  ;  and  Clisthenes,  finding 
himself  the  weaker,  called  to  his  aid  the  common  people.  Here- 
upon, instead  of  the  four  tribes  among  which  the  Athenians  had 
been  divided  hitherto,  Clisthenes  made  ten  tribes,  and  parcelled 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY        14 1 

out  the  Athenians  among  them.  He  Hkewise  changed  the  names 
of  the  tribes  ;  for  whereas  they  had  till  now  been  called  after 
Geleon,  ^Egicores,  Argades,  and  Hoples,  the  four  sons  of  Ion, 
Clisthenes  set  these  names  aside,  and  called  his  tribes  after  cer- 
tain other  heroes,  all  of  whom  were  native,  except  Ajax,  Ajax 
was  associated  because,  although  a  foreigner,  he  was  a  neighbour 
and  an  ally  of  Athens, 

My  belief  is  that  in  acting  thus  he  did  but  imitate  his  maternal 
grandfather,  Clisthenes,  king  of  Sicyon.   ,   .  , 

Having  brought  entirely  over  to  his  own  side  the  common  peo- 
ple of  Athens,  whom  he  had  before  disdained,  he  gave  all  the 
tribes  new  names,  and  made  the  number  greater  than  formerly ; 
instead  of  the  four  phylarchs  he  established  ten  ;  he  likewise 
placed  ten  demes  in  each  of  the  tribes  ;  and  he  was,  now  that  the 
common  people  took  his  part,  very  much  more  powerful  than  his 
adversaries. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXH 

In  consequence  of  these  changes  the  constitution  became  much 
more  popular  than  that  of  Solon  ;  for  it  had  come  to  pass  that 
under  the  tyranny  the  laws  of  Solon  had  become  a  dead  letter 
from  disuse,  and  that  Kleisthenes  had  made  the  others  to  win  over 
the  masses,  among  which  was  passed  the  law  about  ostracism.  .  .  . 
Now  this  law  had  been  passed  by  reason  of  their  suspicion  of  those 
in  power,  because  Peisistratus  had  established  himself  as  tyrant 
when  he  was  a  leader  of  the  people  and  a  general.  The  very  first 
man  to  be  ostracised  was  one  of  his  relations,  Hipparchus,  the  son 
of  Charmus  of  Kolyttus,  on  whose  account  especially  it  was  that 
Kleisthenes,  wishing  to  get  him  banished,  passed  the  law.  For  the 
Athenians  allowed  all  the  friends  of  the  tyrants,  who  had  not  taken 
any  part  in  wrong-doing  during  the  troubles,  to  live  in  the  city, 
thus  displaying  the  wonted  clemency  of  the  popular  government. 
Of  these  Hipparchus  was  the  leader  and  representative.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  following  year,  in  the  archonship  of  Telesinus, 
they  appointed  by  lot  the  nine  archons  according  to  tribes  from  the 
five  hundred,  who  had  been  selected  by  the  members  of  demes 
immediately  after  the  tyranny   (for  formerly  they  had   been  all 


142  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

elected).  And  Megakles,  the  son  of  Hippocrates  of  Alopeke,  was 
ostracised.  For  three  years  then  they  kept  ostracising  the  friends 
of  the  tyrants,  and  after  this  in  the  fourth  year  they  removed  any- 
one else  besides  who  appeared  to  be  too  powerful.  The  first  to  be 
ostracised  of  those  who  were  not  connected  with  the  tyranny  was 
Xanthippus,  the  son  of  Ariphron. 

VIII.    Further  Athenian  Conquests 

1.  CHALCIS  AND   BCEOTIA 

Troubles  at  home  did  not  prevent  the  Athenians  from  extend- 
ing their  conquests.  The  defeat  in  one  day  of  the  Boeotians  and 
the  Chalcidians  was  one  of  their  most  brilliant  exploits. 

Herodotus  speaks  of  the  chains  and  dedicatory  chariot  to  be 
seen  on  the  Acropolis  in  his  day,  and  they  were  still  there  in  the 
time  of  Pausanias.  Only  a  few  inscribed  fragments  of  the  bases 
now  remain. 

Another  offering  erected  out  of  these  spoils  was  the  portico  of  the 
Athenians  at  Delphi,  on  the  stylobate  of  which  is  written  :  "  The 
Athenians  dedicated  the  colonnade  and  the  arms  and  the  figure- 
heads which  they  took  from  their  enemies."   {Pausanias,  X,  xi,  5)^ 

Herodotus^  V>  77 

So  when  the  Spartan  army  had  broken  up  from  its  quarters  thus 
ingloriously,  the  Athenians,  wishing  to  revenge  themselves,  marched 
first  against  the  Chalcideans.  The  Boeotians,  however,  advancing 
to  the  aid  of  the  latter  as  far  as  the  Euripus,  the  Athenians  thought 
it  best  to  attack  them  first.  A  battle  was  fought  accordingly ;  and 
the  Athenians  gained  a  very  complete  victory,  killing  a  vast  number 
of  the  enemy,  and  taking  seven  hundred  of  them  alive.  After  this, 
on  the  very  same  day,  they  crossed  into  Eubcea,  and  engaged  the 
Chalcideans  with  the  like  success  ;  whereupon  they  left  four  thou- 
sand settlers  upon  the  lands  of  the  Hippobotae,  —  which  is  the 

1  Frazer  is  inclined  to  foJtovv  Pausanias  in  referring  this  dedication  to  429  B.C.,  after 
Phormio's  victories,  but  Hicks  and  Hill,  following  various  others,  attribute  it  to  this  time. 
(See  Hicks  and  Hill,  p.  13.) 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY        143 

name  the  Chalcideans  give  to  their  rich  men.  All  the  Chalcidean 
prisoners  whom  they  took  were  put  in  irons,  and  kept  for  a  long 
time  in  close  confinement,  as  likewise  were  the  Boeotians,  until 
the  ransom  asked  for  them  was  paid  ;  and  this  the  Athenians  fixed 
at  two  minae  the  man.  The  chains  wherewith  they  were  fettered 
the  Athenians  suspended  in  their  citadel ;  where  they  were  still  to 
be  seen  in  my  day,  hanging  against  the  wall  scorched  by  the  Median 
flames,  opposite  the  chapel  which  faces  the  west.  The  Athenians 
made  an  offering  of  the  tenth  part  of  the  ransom-money  :  and  ex- 
pended it  on  the  brazen  chariot  drawn  by  four  steeds,  which  stands 
on  the  left  hand  immediately  that  one  enters  the  gateway  of  the 
citadel.    The  inscription  runs  as  follows :  — 

When  Chalcis  and  Boeotia  dared,  her  might, 
Athens  subdued  their  pride  in  valorous  fight ; 
Gave  bonds  for  insults ;  and,  the  ransom  paid, 
From  the  full  tenths  these  steeds  for  Pallas  made, 

SiMONiDES,  Epigrams,  89^  (tr.  Mackail,  Select  Epigrams),  132 

We  fell  under  the  fold  of  Dirphys,  and  a  memorial  is  reared 

over  us  by  our  country  near  the  Euripus,  not  unjustly  ;  for  we  lost 

lovely  youth  facing  the  cloud  of  war,  .   ,  , 

The  sons  of  Athens  quelled  insolence  with  grievous  chains  of 

iron,  and  defeated  the  Boeotians  and  Chalcidians  in  deeds  of  war ; 

these  mares  of  theirs  they  have  dedicated  as  a  tithe  to  Pallas. 

2.  .EGINA 
Athens  had  a  long  struggle  against  ^gina,  carried  on  with  varying 
success.    It  was  not  till  457-456  b.c,  that  the  "  eyesore  of  Piraeus  " 
was  finally  conquered  and  enrolled  in  the  confederacy  of  Delos. 

Herodotus,  V,  81,  89-go 

The  Eginetans,  who  were  at  that  time  a  most  flourishing  people, 
elated  with  their  greatness,  and  at  the  same  time  calling  to  mind 
their  ancient  feud  with  Athens,  agreed  to  lend  the  Thebans  aid, 
and  forthwith  went  to  war  with  the  Athenians,  without  even  giving 
them  notice  by  a  herald.   The  attention  of  these  latter  being  engaged 

1  Numbers  from  Bergk,  "  Poetae  Lyrici  Graeci,"  4th  ed. 


144  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

by  the  struggle  with  the  Boeotians,  the  Eginetans  in  their  ships  of 
war  made  descents  upon  Attica,  plundered  Phalerum,  and  ravaged 
a  vast  number  of  the  townships  upon  the  sea-board,  whereby  the 
Athenians  suffered  ver)^  grievous  damage.   .   .  . 

Hence,  when  the  Thebans  made  their  application  for  succour, 
the  Eginetans,  calling  to  mind  the  matter  of  images,  gladly  lent 
their  aid  to  the  Boeotians.  They  ravaged  all  the  sea-coast  of  Attica  ; 
and  the  Athenians  were  about  to  attack  them  in  return,  when  they 
were  stopped  by  the  oracle  of  Delphi,  which  bade  them  wait  till 
thirty  years  had  passed  from  the  time  that  the  Eginetans  did  the 
wrong,  and  in  the  thirty-first  year,  having  first  set  apart  a  precinct 
for  ^acus,  then  to  begin  the  war.  "  So  should  they  succeed  to 
their  wish,"  the  oracle  said;  "but  if  they  went  to  war  at  once, 
though  they  would  still  conquer  the  island  in  the  end,  yet  they 
must  go  through  much  suffering  and  much  exertion  before  taking 
it."  On  receiving  this  warning  the  Athenians  set  apart  a  precinct 
for  ^acus  —  the  same  which  still  remains  dedicated  to  him  in 
their  market-place  —  but  they  could  not  hear  with  any  patience  of 
waiting  thirty  years,  after  they  had  suffered  such  grievous  wrong 
at  the  hands  of  the  Eginetans. 

Accordingly  they  were  making  ready  to  take  their  revenge  when  a 
fresh  stir  on  the  part  of  the  Lacedaemonians  hindered  their  projects. 

Thucydides,  I,  41 

When  you  were  in  want  of  ships  of  war  for  the  war  against  the 
Eginetans,  before  the  Persian  invasion,  Corinth  supplied  you  with 
twenty  vessels.  That  good  turn,  and  the  line  we  took  on  the  Samian 
question,  when  we  were  the  cause  of  the  Peloponnesians  refusing 
to  assist  them,  enabled  you  to  conquer  yEgina,  and  to  punish  Samos. 

Herodotus,  VI,  87-89,  93-94 

The  Eginetans  had  never  been  punished  for  the  wrongs  which, 
to  pleasure  the  Thebans,  they  had  committed  upon  Athens.  Now, 
however,  conceiving  that  they  were  themselves  wronged,  and  had 
a  fair  ground  of  complaint  against  the  Athenians,  they  instantly 
prepared  to  revenge  themselves.  As  it  chanced  that  the  Athenian 
Theoris,  which  was  a  vessel  of  five  banks  of  oars,  lay  at  Sunium, 
the  Eginetans  contrived  an  ambush,  and  made  themselves  masters 


ATHENS  THROUGH  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY        145 

of  the  holy  vessel,  on  board  of  which  were  a  number  of  Athenians 
of  the  highest  rank,  whom  they  took  and  threw  into  prison. 

At  this  outrage  the  Athenians  no  longer  delayed,  but  set  to  work 
to  scheme  their  worst  against  the  Eginetans  ;   .  .   . 

The  Athenians,  however,  did  not  come  to  the  day ;  for  their 
own  fleet  was  not  of  force  sufficient  to  engage  the  Eginetans,  and 
while  they  were  begging  the  Corinthians  to  lend  them  some  ships, 
the  failure  of  the  enterprise  took  place.  In  those  days  the  Corin- 
thians were  on  the  best  of  terms  with  the  Athenians  ;  and  accord- 
ingly they  now  yielded  to  their  request,  and  furnished  them  with 
twenty  ships  ;  but,  as  their  law  did  not  allow  the  ships  to  be  given 
for  nothing,  they  sold  them  to  the  Athenians  for  five  drachms 
a-piece.  As  soon  then  as  the  Athenians  had  obtained  this  aid,  and, 
by  manning  also  their  own  ships,  had  equipped  a  fleet  of  seventy 
sail,  they  crossed  over  to  Egina,  but  arrived  a  day  later  than  the 
time  agreed  upon.  .   .   . 

Afterwards  the  Eginetans  fell  upon  the  Athenian  fleet  when 
it  was  in  some  disorder  and  beat  it,  capturing  four  ships  with  their 
crews. 

Thus  did  war  rage  between  the  Eginetans  and  Athenians. 

Thucydides,  I,  14 

It  was  quite  at  the  end  of  this  period  that  the  war  with  .^gina 
and  the  prospect  of  the  barbarian  invasion  enabled  Themistocles 
to  persuade  the  Athenians  to  build  the  fleet  with  which  they  fought 
at  Salamis ;  and  even  these  vessels  had  not  complete  decks. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Contemporary  Sources :  Solon,  Fragments  (chiefly  quoted  in  Tlutarch  and 
Aristotle)  ;   Inscriptions. 

Derivative  Sources :  Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens ;  Aristotle,  Politics, 
passim  ;  Herodotus,  especially  Bks.  I,  V,  VI ;  Thucydides  ;  Skolion,  Harmodius 
and  Aristogiton;  Simonides,  Fragments;  Pausanias,  Bk.  I;  Plutarch,  Theseus; 
Plutarch.  Solon. 

Modern  Authorities :  To  the  End  of  Solon,  —  Botsford,  History,  chap,  iii ;  Bury, 
History,  chap,  iv ;  Oman,  History,  chaps,  xi-xii ;  Holm,  History,  Vol.  I,  chap, 
xxvi ;  Abbott,  History,  Vol.  I,  chaps,  ix,  xiii ;  Curtius,  History,  Vol.  I,  Bk.  II, 
chap,  ii;  Grote,  History,  Vol.  Ill,  chaps,  x-xi;  Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.,  pp.  95-142; 


146  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Greenidge,  Greek  Const.  Hist.,  chap,  vi ;  Botsford,  Devel.  of  Ath.  Const.,  chaps, 
vii-ix;   Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  Band  II,  Kap.  iv,  §§  15-16. 

Pisistratiis  and  his  Sons,  —  Botsford,  History,  chap,  iv  ;  Bury,  chap,  v  ;  Oman, 
chap,  xii ;  Holm,  Vol.  I,  chap,  xxvii ;  Abbott,  Vol.  I,  chap,  xv ;  Curtius,  Vol.  I, 
Bk.  II,  chap,  ii;  Grote,  Vol.  IV,  chap,  xxx;  Cox,  Greek  Statesmen,  Vol.  I, 
Peisistratus  and  Polykrates ;  Botsford,  Ath.  Const.,  chap,  x;  Busolt,  Band  II, 
Kap.  iv,  §  17. 

Cleisthenes  and  his  Times, —  Botsford,  History,  chap,  iv  ;  Bury,  chap,  v  ;  Oman, 
chap,  xvi ;  Holm,  Vol.  I,  chap,  xxviii ;  Abbott,  Vol.  I,  chap,  xv  ;  Curtius,  Vol.  I, 
Bk.  II,  chap,  ii ;  Grote,  Vol.  IV,  chap,  xxxi ;  Cox,  Greek  Statesmen,  Vol.  I, 
Kleisthenes ;  Botsford,  Ath.  Const,  chap,  xi ;  Busolt,  Band  II,  Kap.  iv,  §  18. 

Other  Works:  Wilamowitz-Mollendorff,  Aristoteles  und  Athen  ;  Harrison  and 
Verrall,  Mythology  and  Monuments  of  Ancient  Athens;  E.  A.  Gardner,  Ancient 
Athens;  D'Ooge,  Athenian  Acropolis;  Harrison,  Primitive  Athens;  P'razer, 
Pausanias. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  iEGEAN 

The    rise    of    Persia  —  Conquest   of    Asia    by    Cyrus  —  CrcESus  —  Cambyses  — 
Uarius — Rule  in  the  East  —  The  Ionian  revolt — Expedition  against  Greece  — 

Marathon 

I.    The  Rise  oe  Persia 

The  following  passages  give  an  idea  of  conditions  in  Asia 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  great  struggle  between  Greece  and 
Persia.  They  show  how  Persia  gradually  gained  the  ascendancy 
and  pushed  westward  to  the  coast,  absorbing  on  the  way  the  domains 
and  wealth  of  Croesus  and  of  the  Ionian  Greeks.  The  conquest 
of  the  kingdom  of  Lydia  removed  an  important  bulwark  which  had 
until  then  prevented  direct  contact  between  the  Greek  cities  and 
the  Persian  empire. 

1.  CONQUEST  OF  ASIA  BY  CYRUS 

Herodotus^  I,  130,  141,  169 

Thus  after  a  reign  of  thirty-five  years,  Astyages  lost  his  crown, 
and  the  Medes,  in  consequence  of  his  cruelty,  were  brought  under 
the  rule  of  the  Persians.  Their  empire  over  the  parts  of  Asia 
beyond  the  Halys  had  lasted  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  years, 
except  during  the  time  when  the  Scythians  had  the  dominion. 
Afterwards  the  Medes  repented  of  their  submission,  and  revolted 
from  Darius,  but  were  defeated  in  battle,  and  again  reduced  to 
subjection.  Now,  however,  in  the  time  of  Astyages,  it  was  the 
Persians  who  under  Cyrus  revolted  from  the  Medes,  and  became 
thenceforth  the  rulers  of  Asia.  Cyrus  kept  Astyages  at  his  court 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  without  doing  him  any  further 
injury.  Such  then  were  the  circumstances  of  the  birth  and  bringing 
up  of  Cyrus,  and  such  were  the  steps  by  which  he  mounted  the 

147 


148  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

throne.  It  was  at  a  later  date  that  he  was  attacked  by  Croesus, 
and  overthrew  him,  as  I  have  related  in  an  earlier  portion  of 
this  history.  The  overthrow  of  Croesus  made  him  master  of  the 
whole  of  Asia.   .   .  . 

Immediately  after  the  conquest  of  Lydia  by  the  Persians,  the 
Ionian  and  yEolian  Greeks  sent  ambassadors  to  Cyrus  at  Sardis, 
and  prayed  to  become  his  lieges  on  the  footing  which  they  had 
occupied  under  Croesus.  Cyrus  listened  attentively  to  their  pro- 
posals, and  answered  them  by  a  fable.  "  There  was  a  certain 
piper,"  he  said,  "  who  was  walking  one  day  by  the  seaside,  when 
he  espied  some  fish  ;  so  he  began  to  pipe  to  them,  imagining  they 
would  come  out  to  him  upon  the  land.  But  as  he  found  at  last 
that  his  hope  was  vain,  he  took  a  net,  and  enclosing  a  great 
draught  of  fishes,  drew  them  ashore.  The  fish  then  began  to  leap 
and  dance ;  but  the  piper  said,  '  Cease  your  dancing  now,  as 
you  did  not  choose  to  come  and  dance  when  I  piped  to  you.'  " 
Cyrus  gave  this  answer  to  the  lonians  and  ^olians,  because, 
when  he  urged  them  by  his  messengers  to  revolt  from  Croesus, 
they  refused  ;  but  now,  when  his  work  was  done,  they  came  to 
offer  their  allegiance.  It  was  in  anger,  therefore,  that  he  made 
them  this  reply.  The  lonians,  on  hearing  it,  set  to  work  to  fortify 
their  towns,  and  held  meetings  at  the  Panionium,  which  were 
attended  by  all  excepting  the  Milesians,  with  whom  Cyrus  had 
concluded  a  separate  treaty,  by  which  he  allowed  them  the  terms 
they  had  formerly  obtained  from  Croesus.  The  other  lonians  re- 
solved, with  one  accord,  to  send  ambassadors  to  Sparta  to  implore 
assistance.   .   .   . 

Of  all  the  lonians  these  two  states  alone,  rather  than  submit  to 
slavery,  forsook  their  fatherland.  The  others  (I  except  Miletus) 
resisted  Harpagus  no  less  bravely  than  those  who  fled  their  country, 
and  performed  many  feats  of  arms,  each  fighting  in  their  own 
defence,  but  one  after  another  they  suffered  defeat ;  the  cities  were 
taken,  and  the  inhabitants  submitted,  remaining  in  their  respective 
countries,  and  obeying  the  behests  of  their  new  lords.  Miletus,  as 
I  have  already  mentioned,  had  made  terms  with  Cyrus,  and  so 
continued  at  peace.  Thus  was  continental  Ionia  once  more  reduced 
to  servitude  ;  and  when  the  lonians  of  the  islands  saw  their  brethren 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  ^GEAN        149 

upon  the  mainland  subjugated,  they  also,  dreading  the  like,  gave 
themselves  up  to  Cyrus. 

Herodotus,  I,  6-7,  26-28 

Croesus,  son  of  Alyattes,  by  birth  a  Lydian,  was  lord  of  all  the 
nations  to  the  west  of  the  river  Halys.  This  stream,  which  separates 
Syria  from  Paphlagonia,  nms  with  a  course  from  south  to  north, 
and  finally  falls  into  the  Euxine.  So  far  as  our  knowledge  goes, 
he  was  the  first  of  the  barbarians  who  had  dealings  with  the 
Greeks,  forcing  some  of  them  to  become  his  tributaries,  and  enter- 
ing into  alliance  with  others.  He  conquered  the  ^Eolians,  lonians, 
and  Dorians  of  Asia,  and  made  a  treaty  with  the  Lacedaemonians. 
Up  to  that  time  all  Greeks  had  been  free.  For  the  Cimmerian 
attack  upon  Ionia,  which  was  earlier  than  Croesus,  was  not  a 
conquest  of  the  cities,  but  only  an  inroad  for  plundering. 

The  sovereignty  of  Lydia,  which  had  belonged  to  the  Hera- 
clides,  passed  into  the  family  of  Croesus,  who  were  called  the 
Mermnadae,   .   .   . 

On  the  death  of  Alyattes,  Croesus,  his  son,  who  was  thirty-five 
years  old,  succeeded  to  the  throne.  Of  the  Greek  cities,  Ephesus 
was  the  first  that  he  attacked.  The  Ephesians,  when  he  laid  siege 
to  the  place,  made  an  offering  of  their  city  to  Diana,  by  stretching 
a  rope  from  the  town  wall  to  the  temple  of  the  goddess,  which  was 
distant  from  the  ancient  city,  then  besieged  by  Croesus,  a  space  of 
seven  furlongs.  They  were,  as  I  said,  the  first  Greeks  whom  he 
attacked.  Afterwards,  on  some  pretext  or  other,  he  made  war  in 
turn  upon  every  Ionian  and  ^olian  state,  bringing  forward,  where 
he  could,  a  substantial  ground  of  complaint ;  where  such  failed  him, 
advancing  some  poor  excuse. 

In  this  way  he  made  himself  master  of  all  the  Greek  cities  in 
Asia,  and  forced  them  to  become  his  tributaries  ;  after  which  he 
began  to  think  of  building  ships,  and  attacking  the  islanders.  .  .  . 
Croesus  was  charmed  with  the  turn  of  the  speech  ;  and  thinking 
there  was  reason  in  what  was  said,  gave  up  his  ship-building  and 
concluded  a  league  of  amity  with  the  lonians  of  the  isles. 

Croesus  afterwards,  in  the  course  of  many  years,  brought  under 
his  sway  almost  all  the  nations  to  the  west  of  the  Halys. 


ISO  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

2.  CRCESUS 

Mention  has  already  been  made  (pp.  58-59)  of  the  offerings  sent 
by  Croesus  to  Delphi.  This  shows  the  great  reputation  of  the 
Greek  oracles  even  among  those  of  non-Hellenic '  races.  The 
vague,  obscure  answer  is  very  characteristic  as  is  also  the  belief 
in  punishment  of  an  innocent  person  for  the  wrongs  done  by  a 
remote  ancestor,   "the  sins  of  the  fathers." 

Herodotus^  I,  46-47,  71 

This  led  him  to  consider  with  himself  whether  it  were  possible 
to  check  the  growing  power  of  that  people  before  it  came  to  a  head. 
With  this  design  he  resolved  to  make  instant  trial  of  the  several 
oracles  in  Greece,  and  of  the  one  in  Libya.  So  he  sent  his  messen- 
gers in  different  directions,  some  to  Delphi,  some  to  Abae  in  Phocis, 
and  some  to  Dodona  ;  others  to  the  oracle  of  Amphiaraus  ;  others 
to  that  of  Trophonius  ;  others,  again,  to  Branchidae  in  Milesia. 
These  were  the  Greek  oracles  which  he  consulted.  To  Libya  he 
sent  another  embassy,  to  consult  the  oracle  of  Ammon.  These 
messengers  were  sent  to  test  the  knowledge  of  the  oracles,  that, 
if  they  were  found  really  to  return  true  answers,  he  might  send  a 
second  time,  and  inquire  if  he  ought  to  attack  the  Persians. 

The  messengers  who  were  despatched  to  make  trial  of  the  ora- 
cles were  given  the  following  instructions  :  they  were  to  keep  count 
of  the  days  from  the  time  of  their  leaving  Sardis,  and,  reckoning 
from  that  date,  on  the  hundredth  day  they  were  to  consult  the  ora- 
cles, and  to  inquire  of  them  what  Croesus  the  son  of  Alyattes,  king 
of  Lydia,  was  doing  at  that  moment.  The  answers  given  them  were 
to  be  taken  down  in  writing,  and  brought  back  to  him.  None  of 
the  replies  remain  on  record  except  that  of  the  oracle  at  Delphi. 
There,  the  moment  that  the  Lydians  entered  the  sanctuary,  and 
before  they  put  their  questions,  the  Pythoness  thus  answered  them 
in  hexameter  verse  :  — 

"  I  can  count  the  sands,  and  I  can  measure  the  ocean ;    • 
I  have  ears  for  the  silent,  and  know  what  the  dumb  man  meaneth ; 
Lo !  on  my  sense  there  striketh  the  smell  of  a  shell-covered  tortoise, 
Boiling  now  on  a  fire,  with  the  flesh  of  a  lamb,  in  a  cauldron,  — 
Brass  is  the  vessel  below,  and  brass  the  cover  above  it."  .  .  . 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  ^GEAN       151 

Meanwhile  Croesus,  taking  the  oracle  in  a  wrong  sense,  led  his 
forces  into  Cappadocia,  fully  expecting  to  defeat  Cyrus  and  destroy 
the  empire  of  the  Persians.  While  he  was  still  engaged  in  making 
preparations  for  his  attack,  a  Lydian  named  Sandanis,  who  had 
always  been  looked  upon  as  a  wise  man,  but  who  after  this  obtained 
a  very  great  name  indeed  among  his  countrymen,  came  forward 
and  counselled  the  king  in  these  words  : 

"  Thou  art  about,  oh  !  king,  to  make  war  against  men  who  wear 
leathern  trousers,  and  have  all  their  other  garments  of  leather ; 
who  feed  not  on  what  they  like,  but  on  what  they  can  get  from 
a  soil  that  is  sterile  and  unkindly ;  who  do  not  indulge  in  wine, 
but  drink  water  ;  who  possess  no  figs  nor  anything  else  that  is  good 
to  eat.  If,  then,  thou  conquerest  them,  what  canst  thou  get  from 
them,  seeing  that  they  have  nothing  at  all .''  But  if  they  conquer 
thee,  consider  how  much  that  is  precious  thou  wilt  lose  :  if  they 
once  get  a  taste  of  our  pleasant  things,  they  will  keep  such  hold 
of  them  that  we  shall  never  be  able  to  make  them  loose  their  grasp. 
For  my  part,  I  am  thankful  to  the  gods,  that  they  have  not  put  it 
into  the  hearts  of  the  Persians  to  invade  Lydia." 

Croesus  was  not  persuaded  by  this  speech,  though  it  was  true 
enough  ;  for  before  the  conquest  of  Lydia,  the  Persians  possessed 
none  of  the  luxuries  or  delights  of  life. 

Herodotus,  I,  86,  90-91 

Thus  was  Sardis  taken  by  the  Persians,  and  Croesus  himself  fell 
into  their  hands,  after  having  reigned  fourteen  years,  and  been  be- 
sieged in  his  capital  fourteen  days  ;  thus  too  did  Croesus  fulfil  the 
oracle,  which  said  that  he  should  destroy  a  mighty  empire,  —  by 
destroying  his  own.  Then  the  Persians  who  had  made  Croesus 
prisoner  brought  him  before  Cyrus.  .  .  . 

Croesus,  finding  his  request  allowed,  sent  certain  Lydians  to 
Delphi,  enjoining  them  to  lay  his  fetters  upon  the  threshold  of  the 
temple,  and  ask  the  god,  "If  he  were  not  ashamed  of  having  en- 
couraged him,  as  the  destined  destroyer  of  the  empire  of  Cyrus,  to 
begin  a  war  with  Persia,  of  which  such  were  the  first-fruits  .?  "  As 
they  said  this  they  were  to  point  to  the  fetters  ;  and  further  they  were 
to  inquire,  "  if  it  was  the  wont  of  the  Greek  gods  to  be  ungrateful }  " 


152  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

The  Lydians  went  to  Delphi  and  dehvered  their  message,  on 
which  the  Pythoness  is  said  to  have  rephed  —  "  It  is  not  possible 
even  for  a  god  to  escape  the  decree  of  destiny.  Croesus  has  been 
punished  for  the  sin  of  his  fifth  ancestor,  who,  when  he  was  one 
of  the  body-guard  of  the  Heraclides,  joi)ied  in  a  woman's  fraud, 
and,  slaying  his  master,  wrongfully  seized  the  throne,  Apollo  was 
anxious  that  the  fall  of  Sardis  should  not  happen  in  the  lifetime 
of  Croesus,  but  be  delayed  to  his  son's  days  ;  he  could  not,  how- 
ever, persuade  the  Fates.  All  that  they  were  willing  to  allow  he 
took  and  gave  to  Croesus.  Let  Croesus  know  that  Apollo  delayed 
the  taking  of  Sardis  three  full  years,  and  that  he  is  thus  a  prisoner 
three  years  later  than  was  his  destiny.  Moreover  it  was  Apollo  who 
saved  him  from  the  burning  pile.  Nor  has  Croesus  any  right  to 
complain  with  respect  to  the  oracular  answer  which  he  received. 
For  when  the  god  told  him  that,  if  he  attacked  the  Persians,  he 
would  destroy  a  mighty  empire,  he  ought,  if  he  had  been  wise,  to 
have  sent  again  and  inquired  which  empire  was  meant,  that  of 
Cyrus  or  his  own  ;  but  if  he  neither  understood  what  was  said,  nor 
took  the  trouble  to  seek  for  enlightenment,  he  has  only  himself  to 
blame  for  the  result.  Besides,  he  had  misunderstood  the  last 
answer  which  had  been  given  him  about  the  mule.  Cyrus  was 
that  mule.  For  the  parents  of  Cyrus  were  of  different  races,  and 
of  different  conditions,  —  his  mother  a  Median  princess,  daughter  of 
King  Astyages,  and  his  father  a  Persian  and  a  subject,  who,  though 
so  far  beneath  her  in  all  respects,  had  married  his  royal  mistress." 

Such  was  the  answer  of  the  Pythoness.  The  Lydians  returned 
to  Sardis  and  communicated  it  to  Croesus,  who  confessed,  on  hear- 
ing it,  that  the  fault  was  his,  not  the  god's.  Such  was  the  way  in 
which  Ionia  was  first  conquered,  and  so  was  the  empire  of  Croesus 
brought  to  a  close. 

3.  CAMBYSES 

The  conquests  under  Cyrus  had  not  included  Egypt,  which  was  left 
for  his  son,  Cambyses,  to  conquer  at  the  expense  of  Psammetichus 
III.  The  date  was  probably  about  525  b.c.  Greek  mercenaries  were 
employed  on  both  sides,  in  fact  Greek  influence  and  ideas  were  very 
strong  in  the  house  of  Amasis  to  which  Psammetichus  belonged. 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  .^GEAN        153 

Herodotus,  H,  i 

On  the  death  of  Cyrus,  Cambyses  his  son  by  Cassandane 
daughter  of  Pharnaspes  took  the  kingdom.  Cassandane  had  died 
in  the  Hfetime  of  Cyrus,  who  had  made  a  great  mourning  for  her 
at  her  death,  and  had  commanded  all  the  subjects  of  his  empire  to 
observe  the  like.  Cambyses,  the  son  of  this  lady  and  of  Cyrus,  re- 
garding the  Ionian  and  /Eolian  Greeks  as  vassals  of  his  father, 
took  them  with  him  in  his  expedition  against  Egypt  among  the 
other  nations  which  owned  his  sway. 


II.    Darius 

1.  RULE  IN  THE  EAST 
Herodotus,  HI,  88-89 

Thus  was  Darius,  son  of  Hystaspes,  appointed  king ;  and,  except 
the  Arabians,  all  they  of  Asia  were  subject  to  him  ;  for  Cyrus,  and 
after  him  Cambyses,  had  brought  them  all  under.  The  Arabians 
were  never  subject  as  slaves  to  the  Persians,  but  had  a  league  of 
friendship  with  them  from  the  time  when  they  brought  Cambyses 
on  his  way  as  he  went  into  Egypt ;  for  had  they  been  unfriendly 
the  Persians  could  never  have  made  their  invasion.   .   .  . 

This  he  set  up  in  Persia  ;  and  afterwards  he  proceeded  to  establish 
twenty  governments  of  the  kind  which  the  Persians  call  satrapies, 
assigning  to  each  its  governor,  and  fixing  the  tribute  which  was  to 
be  paid  him  by  the  several  nations.  And  generally  he  joined  to- 
gether in  one  satrapy  the  nations  that  were  neighbours,  but  some- 
times he  passed  over  the  nearer  tribes,  and  put  in  their  stead  those 
which  were  more  remote.  The  following  is  an  account  of  these 
governments,  and  of  the  yearly  tribute  which  they  paid  to  the  king  : 
—  Such  as  brought  their  tribute  in  silver  were  ordered  to  pay 
according  to  the  Babylonian  talent ;  while  the  Euboic  was  the 
standard  measure  for  such  as  brought  gold.  Now  the  Babylonian 
talent  contains  seventy  Euboic  minas.  During  all  the  reign  of  Cyrus, 
and  afterwards  when  Cambyses  ruled,  there  were  no  fixed  tributes, 
but  the  nations  severally  brought  gifts  to  the  king.  On  account  of 
this  and  other  like  doings,  the  Persians  say  that  Darius  was  a  huck- 
ster, Cambyses  a  master,  and  Cyrus  a  father ;  for  Darius  looked 


154  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

to  making  a  gain  in  everything  ;  Cambyses  was  harsh  and  reckless  ; 
while  Cyrus  was  gentle,  and  procured  them  all  manner  of  goods,^ 

The  following  inscription  (an  early  copy  of  the  original),  with 
orders  from  Darius  to  one  of  his  satraps,  exhibits  the  characteristic 
Persian  combination  of  courtesy  with  lordliness. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  20 

Letter  of  Darius,  Early  Fifth  Century 

The  King  of  Kings,  Darius  son  of  Hystaspes,  to  Gadatas  his 
slave  speaks  thus  : 

I  learn  that  you  are  not  obeying  my  orders  in  every  respect:  Inasmuch  as 
you  are  benefiting  my  land  by  transplanting  the  fruits  from  beyond  Euphrates 
to  the  parts  below  Asia,  I  commend  your  purpose  and  on  this  account  great 
gratitude  will  be  put  to  your  credit  in  the  house  of  the  King ;  but  inasmuch  as 
you  are  disregarding  my  arrangement  on  behalf  of  the  gods,  I  shall  give  you, 
if  you  do  not  alter  your  plan,  an  experience  of  an  outraged  temper ;  for  you 
taxed  the  sacred  gardeners  of  Apollo  and  ordered  them  to  dig  up  ground  that 
was  unconsecrated,  ignoring  my  ancestors'  purpose  toward  the  god  who  told 
the  Persians  all  truth  and  .  .  . 

2.  THE  IONIAN  REVOLT 

There  was  no  general  agreement  among  the  lonians  on  the 
question  of  revolt,  partly  because  some  thought  they  would  be  better 
off  under  kings  than  they  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  a  democracy, 
partly  because  there  was  no  real  political  bond  among  the  cities. 
Indeed,  it  had  been  the  policy  of  the  satraps  to  keep  the  cities  apart. 

They  therefore  realized  that  they  must  get  help  from  the  cities 
of  Hellas  proper  and,  as  was  natural,  they  sent  first  to  Sparta,  which 
was  at  that  time  the  leading  state  in  Greece.  In  spite  of  the  attrac- 
tions so  eloquently  described  by  Aristagoras,  the  Spartan  king 
cannily  demanded  time  to  think  the  matter  over.  His  answer  shows 
that  Sparta  was  never  one  to  try  innovations  or  rush  into  adventures. 

1  See  Herodotus,  III,  90-96,  for  a  list  of  satrapies  and  tribute.  The  Euboic  (silver)  talent 
=  ;f25o  8s.  5d.  The  Babylonian  talent  =  ^^292  3s.  3d.  On  money  and  standards  see 
Ridgeway,  in  Whibley,  "Companion  to  Greek  Studies,"  pp.  444-455. 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  yEGEAN        155 

Herodotus,  IV,  137 

The  lonians  now  held  a  council.  Miltiades  the  Athenian,  who 
was  king  of  the  Chersonesites  upon  the  Hellespont,  and  their 
commander  at  the  Ister,  recommended  the  other  generals  to  do  as 
the  Scythians  wished,  and  restore  freedom  to  Ionia.  But  Histiaeus 
the  Milesian  opposed  this  advice.  "  It  is  through  Darius,"  he  said, 
"'  that  we  enjoy  our  thrones  in  our  several  states.  If  his  power  be 
overturned,  I  cannot  continue  lord  of  Miletus,  nor  ye  of  your  cities. 
For  there  is  not  one  of  them  which  will  not  prefer  democracy  to 
kingly  rule."  Then  the  other  captains,  who,  till  Histiaeus  spoke, 
were  about  to  vote  with  Miltiades,  changed  their  minds,  and  declared 
in  favour  of  the  last  speaker. 

Herodotus,  V,  38,  49 

Now  the  Mytileneans  had  no  sooner  got  Goes  into  their  power, 
than  they  led  him  forth  from  the  city  and  stoned  him ;  the  Cymaeans, 
on  the  other  hand,  allowed  their  tyrant  to  go  free  ;  as  likewise 
did  most  of  the  others.  And  so  this  form  of  government  ceased 
throughout  all  the  cities.  Aristagoras  the  Milesian,  after  he  had 
in  this  way  put  down  the  tyrants,  and  bidden  the  cities  choose 
themselves  captains  in  their  room,  sailed  away  himself  on  board  a 
trireme  to  Lacedasmon  ;  for  he  had  great  need  of  obtaining  the 
aid  of  some  powerful  ally.   .  .  . 

Cleomenes,  however,  was  still  king  when  Aristagoras,  t}'rant  of 
Miletus,  reached  Sparta.  At  their  interview,  Aristagoras,  accord- 
ing to  the  report  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  produced  a  bronze  tablet, 
whereupon  the  whole  circuit  of  the  earth  was  engraved,  with  all  its 
seas  and  rivers.  Discourse  beran  between  the  two  ;  and  Aristag- 
oras  addressed  the  Spartan  king  in  these  words  following :  — 
"  Think  it  not  strange,  O  King  Cleomenes,  that  I  have  been  at 
the  pains  to  sail  hither ;  for  the  posture  of  affairs,  which  I  will 
now  recount  unto  thee,  made  it  fitting.  Shame  and  grief  is  it  in- 
deed to  none  so  much  as  to  us,  that  the  sons  of  the  lonians  should 
have  lost  their  freedom,  and  come  to  be  the  slaves  of  others  ;  but 
yet  it  touches  you  likewise,  O  Spartans,  beyond  the  rest  of  the 
Greeks,  inasmuch  as  the  preeminence  over  all  Greece  appertains 
to  you.    We  beseech  you,  therefore,  by  the  common  gods  of  the 


156  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Grecians,  deliver  the  lonians,  who  are  your  own  kinsmen,  from 
slavery.  Truly  the  task  is  not  difficult ;  for  the  barbarians  are  an 
unwarlike  people  ;  and  you  are  the  best  and  bravest  warriors  in  the 
whole  world.  Their  mode  of  fighting  is  the  following  :  —  they  use 
bows  and  arrows  and  a  short  spear  ;  they  wear  trousers  in  the  field, 
and  cover  their  heads  with  turbans.  So  easy  are  they  to  vanquish  ! 
Know  too  that  the  dwellers  in  these  parts  have  more  good  things 
than  all  the  rest  of  the  world  put  together  —  gold,  and  silver,  and 
brass,  and  embroidered  garments,  beasts  of  burthen,  and  bond- 
servants —  all  which,  if  you  only  wish  it,  you  may  soon  have  for 
your  own.  The  nations  border  on  one  another,  in  the  order  which 
I  will  now  explain.  Next  to  these  lonians  "  (here  he  pointed  with 
his  finger  to  the  map  of  the  world  which  was  engraved  upon  the 
tablet  that  he  had  brought  with  him)  "  these  Lydians  dwell ;  their 
soil  is  fertile,  and  few  people  are  so  rich  in  silver.  Next  to  them," 
he  continued,  "  come  these  Phrygians,  who  have  more  flocks  and 
herds  than  any  race  that  I  know,  and  more  plentiful  harvests.  On 
them  border  the  Cappadocians,  whom  we  Greeks  know  by  the 
name  of  Syrians  :  they  are  neighbours  to  the  Cilicians,  who  extend 
all  the  way  to  this  sea,  where  Cyprus  (the  island  which  you  see 
here)  lies.  The  Cilicians  pay  the  king  a  yearly  tribute  of  five  hun- 
dred talents.  Next  to  them  come  the  Armenians,  who  live  here  — 
they  too  have  numerous  flocks  and  herds.  After  them  come  the 
Matieni,  inhabiting  this  country  ;  then  Cissia,  this  province,  where 
you  see  the  river  Choaspes  marked,  and  likewise  the  town  Susa 
upon  its  banks,  where  the  Great  King  holds  his  court,  and  where 
the  treasuries  are  in  which  his  wealth  is  stored.  Once  masters  of 
this  city,  you  may  be  bold  to  vie  with  Zeus  himself  for  riches.  In 
the  wars  which  ye  wage  with  your  rivals  of  Messenia,  with  them  of 
Argos  likewise  and  of  Arcadia,  about  paltry  boundaries  and  strips 
of  land  not  so  remarkably  good,  ye  contend  with  those  who  have  no 
gold,  nor  silver  even,  which  often  give  men  heart  to  fight  and  die. 
Must  ye  wage  such  wars,  and  when  ye  might  so  easily  be  lords  of 
Asia,  will  ye  decide  otherwise.''"  Thus  spoke  Aristagoras  ;  and 
Cleomenes  replied  to  him,  —  "Milesian  stranger,  three  days  hence 
I  will  give  thee  an  answer." 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  ^GEAN       157 

Herodotus,  V,  50,  55,  96-97 

So  they  proceeded  no  further  at  that  time.  When,  however,  the 
day  appointed  for  the  answer  came,  and  the  two  once  more  met, 
Cleomenes  asked  Aristagoras,  "  how  many  days'  journey  it  was 
from  the  sea  of  the  lonians  to  the  king's  residence  ?  "  Hereupon 
Aristagoras,  who  had  managed  the  rest  so  cleverly,  and  succeeded 
in  deceiving  the  king,  tripped  in  his  speech  and  blundered  ;  for 
instead  of  concealing  the  truth,  as  he  ought  to  have  done  if  he 
wanted  to  induce  the  Spartans  to  cross  into  Asia,  he  said  plainly 
that  it  was  a  journey  fof  three  months.  Cleomenes  caught  at  the 
words,  and,  preventing  Aristagoras  from  finishing  what  he  had 
begun  to  say  concerning  the  road,  addressed  him  thus  : — "  Mile- 
sian stranger,  quit  Sparta  before  sunset.  This  is  no  good  proposal 
that  thou  makest  to  the  Lacedaemonians,  to  conduct  them  a  dis- 
tance of  three  months'  journey  from  the  sea."  When  he  had  thus 
spoken,  Cleomenes  went  to  his  home.   .   .   . 

When  Aristagoras  left  Sparta  he  hastened  to  Athens,  which  had 
got  quit  of  its  tyrants  in  the  way  that  I  will  now  describe.   .   .   . 

On  the  return  of  Hippias  to  Asia  from  Lacedaemon,  he  moved 
heaven  and  earth  to  set  Artaphernes  against  the  Athenians,  and 
did  all  that  lay  in  his  power  to  bring  Athens  into  subjection  to 
himself  and  Darius.  So  when  the  Athenians  learnt  what  he  was 
about,  they  sent  envoys  to  Sardis,  and  exhorted  the  Persians  not 
to  lend  an  ear  to  the  Athenian  exiles.  Artaphernes  told  them  in 
reply,  "  that  if  they  wished  to  remain  safe,  they  must  receive  back 
Hippias."  The  Athenians,  when  this  answer  was  reported  to 
them,  determined  not  to  consent,  and  therefore  made  up  their 
minds  to  be  at  open  enmity  with  the  Persians, 

The  Athenians  had  come  to  this  decision,  and  were  already  in 
bad  odour  with  the  Persians,  when  Aristagoras  the  Milesian,  dis- 
missed from  Sparta  by  Cleomenes  the  Lacedaemonian,  arrived  at 
Athens.  He  knew  that,  after  Sparta,  Athens  was  the  most  power- 
ful of  the  Grecian  states.  Accordingly  he  appeared  before  the 
people,  and,  as  he  had  done  at  Sparta,  spoke  to  them  of  the  good 
things  which  there  were  in  Asia,  and  of  the  Persian  mode  of  fight 
—  how  they  used  neither  shield  nor  spear,  and  were  very  easy  to 
conquer.    All  this  he  urged,  and  reminded  them  also,  that  Miletus 


158  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

was  a  colony  from  Athens,  and  therefore  ought  to  receive  their  suc- 
cour, since  they  were  so  powerful  —  and  in  the  earnestness  of  his 
entreaties,  he  cared  little  what  he  promised  —  till,  at  the  last,  he  pre- 
vailed and  won  them  over.  It  seems  indeed  to  be  easier  to  deceive 
a  multitude  than  one  man  —  for  Aristagoras,  though  he  failed  to  im- 
pose on  Cleomenes  the  Lacedaemonian,  succeeded  with  the  Athe- 
nians, who  were  thirty  thousand.  Won  by  his  persuasions,  they 
voted  that  twenty  ships  should  be  sent  to  the  aid  of  the  lonians, 
under  the  command  of  Melanthius,  one  of  the  citizens,  a  man  of 
mark  in  every  way.  These  ships  were  the  beginning  of  mischief 
both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  barbarians. 

The  Athenians  probably  did  not  realize  that  they  were  being 
offered  the  chance  of  a  lifetime  and  that  their  decision  was  fraught 
with  momentous  consequences.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  part 
played  by  Athens  in  the  great  struggle  was  the  making  of  her  and 
raised  her  at  once  to  first  rank. 

Sardis  was  of  course  rebuilt.    It  is  at  present  being  excavated 
by  an  American  expedition  (see  American  Journal  of  ArcJiceology, 
1910,  pp.  401-416;    191 1,  pp.  445-458;    1912,  pp.  465-479; 
1913,  pp.  471-478). 
Herodotus^  V,  99-105 

The  Athenians  now  arrived  with  a  fleet  of  twenty  sail,  and 
brought  also  in  their  company  five  triremes  of  the  Eretrians ; 
which  had  joined  the  expedition,  not  so  much  out  of  goodwill 
towards  Athens,  as  to  pay  a  debt  which  they  already  owed  to  the 
people  of  Miletus.  For  in  the  old  war  between  the  Chalcideans 
and  Eretrians,  the  Milesians  fought  on  the  Eretrian  side  through- 
out, while  the  Chalcideans  had  the  help  of  the  Samian  people. 
Aristagoras,  on  their  arrival,  assembled  the  rest  of  his  allies,  and 
proceeded  to  attack  Sardis,  not  however  leading  the  army  in  person, 
but  appointing  to  the  command  his  own  brother  Charopinus,  and 
Hermophantus,  one  of  the  citizens,  while  he  himself  remained 
behind  in  Miletus. 

The  lonians  sailed  with  this  fleet  to  Ephesus,  and,  leaving  their 
ships  at  Coressus  in  the  Ephesian  territory,  took  guides  from  the 


THE  ADVANCE  OF   PERSIA  TO  THE  .E.GEAN        159 

city,  and  went  up  the  country,  with  a  great  host.  They  marched 
along  the  course  of  the  river  Cayster,  and,  crossing  over  the  ridge 
of  Tmolus,  came  down  upon  Sardis  and  took  it,  no  man  opposing 
them  ;  —  the  whole  city  fell  into  their  hands,  except  only  the  cita- 
del, which  Artaphernes  defended  in  person,  having  with  him  no 
contemptible  force. 

Though,  however,  they  took  the  city,  they  did  not  succeed  in 
plundering  it ;  for,  as  the  houses  in  Sardis  were  most  of  them 
built  of  reeds,  and  even  the  few  which  were  of  brick  had  a  reed 
thatching  for  their  roof,  one  of  them  was  no  sooner  fired  by  a 
soldier  than  the  flames  ran  speedily  from  house  to  house,  and 
spread  over  the  whole  place.  As  the  fire  raged,  the  Lydians,  and 
such  Persians  as  were  in  the  city,  inclosed  on  every  side  by  the 
flames,  which  had  seized  all  the  skirts  of  the  town,  and  finding 
themselves  unable  to  get  out,  came  in  crowds  into  the  market- 
place, and  gathered  theinselves  upon  the  banks  of  the  Pactolus. 
This  stream,  w'hich  comes  down  from  Mount  Tmolus,  and  brings 
the  Sardians  a  quantity  of  gold-dust,  runs  directly  through  the 
market-place  of  Sardis,  and  joins  the  Hermus,  before  that  river 
reaches  the  sea.  So  the  Lydians  and  Persians,  brought  together 
in  this  way  in  the  market-place  and  about  the  Pactolus,  were  forced 
to  stand  on  their  defence  ;  and  the  lonians,  when  they  saw  the 
enemy  in  part  resisting,  in  part  pouring  towards  them  in  dense 
crowds,  took  fright,  and  drawing  off  to  the  ridge  which  is  called 
Tmolus,  when  night  came,  went  back  to  their  ships. 

Sardis  however  was  burnt,  and,  among  other  buildings,  a  temple 
of  the  native  goddess  Cybele  was  destroyed  ;  which  was  the  reason 
afterwards  alleged  by  the  Persians  for  setting  on  fire  the  temples 
of  the  Greeks.  As  soon  as  what  had  happened  was  known,  all  the 
Persians  who  were  stationed  on  this  side  the  Halys  drew  together, 
and  brought  help  to  the  Lydians.  Poinding  however,  when  they 
arrived,  that  the  lonians  had  already  withdrawn  from  Sardis,  they 
set  off,  and,  following  close  upon  their  track,  came  up  with  them 
at  Ephesus.  The  lonians  drew  out  against  them  in  battle  array ; 
and  a  fight  ensued,  wherein  the  Greeks  had  very  greatly  the  worse. 
Vast  numbers  were  slain  by  the  Persians  :  among  other  men  of 
note,  they  killed  the  captain  of  the  Eretrians,  a  certain  Eualcidas, 


i6o  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

a  man  who  had  gained  crowns  at  the  games,  and  received  much 
praise  from  Simonides  the  Cean.  Such  as  made  their  escape  from 
the  battle,  dispersed  among  the  several  cities. 

So  ended  this  encounter.  Afterwards  the  Athenians  quite  for- 
sook the  lonians,  and,  though  Aristagoras  besought  therh  much  by 
his  ambassadors,  refused  to  give  him  any  further  help.  Still  the 
lonians,  notwithstanding  this  desertion,  continued  unceasingly  their 
preparations  to  carry  on  the  war  against  the  Persian  king,  which 
their  late  conduct  towards  him  had  rendered  unavoidable.  Sailing 
into  the  Hellespont,  they  brought  Byzantium,  and  all  the  other  cities 
in  that  quarter,  under  their  sway.  Again,  quitting  the  Hellespont, 
they  went  to  Caria,  and  won  the  greater  part  of  the  Carians  to 
their  side  ;  while  Caunus,  which  had  formerly  refused  to  join  with 
them,  after  the  burning  of  Sardis,  came  over  likewise. 

All  the  Cyprians  too,  excepting  those  of  Amathus,  of  their  own 
proper  motion  espoused  the  Ionian  cause.  The  occasion  of  their 
revolting  from  the  Medes  was  the  following.  There  was  a  certain 
Onesilus,  younger  brother  of  Gorgus,  king  of  Salamis,  and  son  of 
Chersis,  who  was  son  of  Siromus,  and  grandson  of  Evelthon.  This 
man  had  often  in  former  times  entreated  Gorgus  to  rebel  against 
the  king ;  but,  when  he  heard  of  the  revolt  of  the  lonians,  he  left 
him  no  peace  with  his  importunity.  As,  however,  Gorgus  would 
not  hearken  to  him,  he  watched  his  occasion,  and  when  his  brother 
had  gone  outside  the  town,  he  with  his  partisans  closed  the  gates 
upon  him.  Gorgus,  thus  deprived  of  his  city,  fled  to  the  Medes ; 
and  Onesilus,  being  now  king  of  Salamis,  sought  to  bring  about  a 
revolt  of  the  whole  of  Cyprus.  All  were  prevailed  on  except  the 
Amathusians,  who  refused  to  listen  to  him  ;  whereupon  Onesilus 
sate  down  before  Amathus,  and  laid  siege  to  it. 

While  Onesilus  was  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Amathus,  King 
Darius  received  tidings  of  the  taking  and  burning  of  Sardis  by  the 
Athenians  and  lonians  ;  and  at  the  same  time  he  learnt  that  the 
author  of  the  league,  the  man  by  whom  the  whole  matter  had  been 
planned  and  contrived,  was  Aristagoras  the  Milesian.  It  is  said  that 
he  no  sooner  understood  what  had  happened,  than,  laying  aside  all 
thought  concerning  the  lonians,  who  would,  he  was  sure,  pay  dear 
for  their  rebellion,  he  asked,  ""  Who  the  Athenians  were  ?  "  and, 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  ^GEAN       i6i 

being  informed,  called  for  his  bow,  and  placing  an  arrow  on  the 
string,  shot  upward  into  the  sky,  saying,  as  he  let  fly  the  shaft  — 
"  Grant  me,  Zeus,  to  revenge  myself  on  the  Athenians  !  "  After 
this  speech,  he  bade  one  of  his  servants  every  day,  when  his  dinner 
was  spread,  three  times  repeat  these  words  to  him —  "Master, 
remember  the  Athenians." 

In  spite  of  brave  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  cities,  they  were 
gradually  worn  out  by  the  superior  numbers  of  the  Persians,  who 
frequently  used  the  captured  towns  as  bases  of  supplies  for  expedi- 
tions against  neighboring  places. 

Herodotus^  VI,  18-22,  31,  33 

The  Persians,  when  they  had  vanquished  the  lonians  in  the 
sea-fight,  besieged  Miletus  both  by  land  and  sea,  driving  mines 
under  the  walls,  and  making  use  of  every  known  device,  until  at 
length  they  took  both  the  citadel  and  the  town,  six  years  from 
the  time  when  the  revolt  first  broke  out  under  Aristagoras.  All 
the  inhabitants  of  the  city  they  reduced  to  slavery,  and  thus  the 
event  tallied  with  the  announcement  which  had  been  made  by 
the  oracle. 

For  once  upon  a  time,  when  the  Argives  had  sent  to  Delphi  to 
consult  the  god  about  the  safety  of  their  own  city,  a  prophecy  was 
given  them,  in  which  others  besides  themselves  were  interested  ; 
for  while  it  bore  in  part  upon  the  fortunes  of  Argos,  it  touched  in 
a  by-clause  the  fate  of  the  men  of  Miletus.  I  shall  set  down  the 
portion  which  concerned  the  Argives  when  I  come  to  that  part  of 
my  History,  mentioning  at  present  only  the  passage  in  which  the 
absent  Milesians  were  spoken  of.    This  passage  was  as  follows  :  — 

Then  shall  thou,  Miletus,  so  oft  the  contriver  of  evil, 

Be,  thyself,  to  many  a  feast  and  an  excellent  booty : 

Then  shall  thy  matrons  wash  the  feet  of  long-haired  masters ;  — 

Others  shall  then  possess  our  lov'd  Didymian  temple. 

Such  a  fate  now  befell  the  Milesians  ;  for  the  Persians,  who  wore 
their  hair  long,  after  killing  most  of  the  men,  made  the  women 
and  children  slaves  ;  and  the  sanctuary  at  Didyma,  the  oracle  no 


i62  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

less  than  the  temple,  was  plundered  and  burnt  ;•  of  the  riches  whereof 
I  have  made  frequent  mention  in  other  parts  of  my  History. 

Those  of  the  Milesians  whose  lives  were  spared,  being  carried 
prisoners  to  Susa,  received  no  ill  treatment  at  the  hands  of  King 
Darius,  but  were  established  by  him  in  Ampe,  a  city  on  the  shores 
of  the  Erythraean  sea,  near  the  spot  where  the  Tigris  flows  into  it. 
Miletus  itself,  and  the  plain  about  the  city,  were  kept  by  the 
Persians  for  themselves,  while  the  hill-country  was  assigned  to 
the  Carians  of  Pedasus.  .   .  . 

The  Athenians,  on  the  other  hand,  showed  themselves  beyond 
measure  afflicted  at  the  fall  of  Miletus,  in  many  ways  expressing 
their  sympathy,  and  especially  by  their  treatment  of  Phrynichus. 
For  when  this  poet  brought  out  upon  the  stage  his  drama  of 
the  Capture  of  Miletus,  the  whole  theatre  burst  into  tears  ;  and 
the  people  sentenced  him  to  pay  a  fine  of  a  thousand  drachms, 
for  recalling  to  them  their  own  misfortunes.  They  likewise  made 
a  law,  that  no  one  should  ever  again  exhibit  that  piece. 

Thus  was  Miletus  bereft  of  its  inhabitants.   .   .  . 

The  naval  armament  of  the  Persians  wintered  at  Miletus,  and 
in  the  following  year  proceeded  to  attack  the  islands  off  the  coast, 
Chios,  Lesbos,  and  Tenedos,  which  were  reduced  without  difficulty. 
Whenever  they  became  masters  of  an  island,  the  barbarians,  in 
every  single  instance,  netted  the  inhabitants.  Now  the  mode  in 
which  they  practise  this  netting  is  the  following.  Men  join  hands, 
so  as  to  form  a  line  across  from  the  north  coast  to  the  south,  and 
then  march  through  the  island  from  end  to  end  and  hunt  out  the 
inhabitants.  In  like  manner  the  Persians  took  also  the  Ionian 
towns  upon  the  mainland,  not  however  netting  the  inhabitants,  as 
it  was  not  possible.   .  .  . 

The  sea  force,  after  quitting  Ionia,  proceeded  to  the  Hellespont, 
and  took  all  the  towns  which  lie  on  the  left  shore  as  one  sails  into 
the  straits.  For  the  cities  on  the  right  bank  had  already  been 
reduced  by  the  land  force  of  the  Persians. 

Darius  stood  little  in  need  of  reminders  of  the  Athenians.  His  ex- 
pedition against  them  was  evidently  the  culmination  of  a  carefully 
thought-out  plan  for  reducing  the  Greek  cities,  for  he  appears  to 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  yEGEAN        163 

have  left  the  coast  fairly  well  subdued  when  he  sent  Mardonius 
ahead  to  clear  the  way  and  secure  as  many  places  as  possible.  A 
disastrous  shipwreck  placed  a  temporary  check  on  the  plan,  and 
before  venturing  on  another  expedition  Darius  sent  around  demand- 
ing submission.  The  story  of  how  the  ambassadors  were  treated 
is  a  familiar  one.  A  more  picturesque  version  tells  how  they  were 
thrown  into  a  well  to  find  earth  and  water, 

3.  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  GREECE 
Herodotus^  VI,  43—44,  48-49 

The  next  spring  Darius  superseded  all  the  other  generals,  and 
sent  down  Mardonius,  the  son  of  Gobryas,  to  the  coast,  and  with 
him  a  vast  body  of  men,  some  fit  for  sea,  others  for  land  service. 
Mardonius  was  a  youth  at  this  time,  and  had  only  lately  married 
Artazostra,  the  king's  daughter.  When  Mardonius,  accompanied 
by  this  numerous  host,  reached  Cilicia,  he  took  ship  and  proceeded 
along  shore  with  his  fleet,  while  the  land  army  marched  under 
other  leaders  towards  the  Hellespont.  In  the  course  of  his  voyage 
along  the  coast  of  Asia  he  came  to  Ionia  ;  and  here  I  have  a 
marvel  to  relate  which  will  greatly  surprise  those  Greeks  who  can- 
not believe  that  Otanes  advised  the  seven  conspirators  to  make 
Persia  a  commonwealth.  Mardonius  put  down  all  the  despots 
throughout  Ionia,  and  in  lieu  of  them  established  democracies. 
Having  so  done,  he  hastened  to  the  Hellespont,  and  when  a  vast 
multitude  of  ships  had  been  brought  together,  and  likewise  a 
powerful  land  force,  he  conveyed  his  troops  across  the  strait  by 
means  of  his  vessels,  and  proceeded  through  Europe  against 
Eretria  and  Athens. 

At  least  these  towns  served  as  a  pretext  for  the  expedition,  the 
real  purpose  of  which  was  to  subjugate  as  great  a  number  as 
possible  of  the  Grecian  cities  ;  and  this  became  plain  when  the 
Thasians,  who  did  not  even  lift  a  hand  in  their  defence,  were 
reduced  by  the  sea  force,  while  the  land  army  added  the  Mace- 
donians to  the  former  slaves  of  the  king.  All  the  tribes  on  the 
hither  side  of  Macedonia  had  been  reduced  previously.  From 
Thasos  the  fleet  stood  across  to  the  mainland,  and  sailed  along 


l64  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

shore  to  Acanthus,  whence  an  attempt  was  made  to  double  Mount 
Athos.  But  here  a  violent  north  wind  sprang  up,  against  which 
nothing  could  contend,  and  handled  a  large  number  of  the  ships 
with  much  rudeness,  shattering  them  and  driving  them  aground 
upon  Athos.  'T  is  said  the  number  of  the  ships  destroyed  was 
little  short  of  three  hundred  ;  and  the  men  who  perished  were 
more  than  twenty  thousand.  For  the  sea  about  Athos  abounds 
in  monsters  beyond  all  others ;  and  so  a  portion  were  seized  and 
devoured  by  these  animals,  while  others  were  dashed  violently 
against  the  rocks  ;  some,  who  did  not  know  how  to  swim,  were 
engulfed  ;  and  some  died  of  the  cold.   .   .   . 

After  this  Darius  resolved  to  prove  the  Greeks,  and  try  the 
bent  of  their  minds,  whether  they  were  inclined  to  resist  him  in 
arms  or  prepared  to  make  their  submission.  He  therefore  sent  out 
heralds  in  divers  directions  round  about  Greece,  with  orders  to 
demand  everywhere  earth  and  water  for  the  king.  At  the  same 
time  he  sent  other  heralds  to  the  various  seaport  towns  which  paid 
him  tribute,  and  required  them  to  provide  a  number  of  ships  of 
war  and  horse-transports. 

These  towns  accordingly  began  their  preparations ;  and  the 
heralds  who  had  been  sent  into  Greece  obtained  what  the  king 
had  bid  them  ask  from  a  large  number  of  the  states  upon  the 
mainland,  and  likewise  from  all  the  islanders  whom  they  visited. 
Among  these  last  were  included  the  Eginetans,  who,  equally  with 
the  rest,  consented  to  give  earth  and  water  to  the  Persian  king. 

When  the  Athenians  heard  what  the  Eginetans  had  done, 
believing  that  it  was  from  enmity  to  themselves  that  they  had  given 
consent,  and  that  the  Eginetans  intended  to  join  the  Persian  in 
his  attack  upon  Athens,  they  straightway  took  the  matter  in  hand. 
In  good  truth  it  greatly  rejoiced  them  to  have  so  fair  a  pretext; 
and  accordingly  they  sent  frequent  embassies  to  Sparta,  and  made 
it  a  charge  against  the  Eginetans  that  their  conduct  in  this  matter 
proved  them  to  be  traitors  to  Greece. 

Plutarch,  Themisfocles,  6 

When  the  king  of  Persia  sent  messengers  into  Greece,  with  an 
interpreter,  to  demand  earth  and  water,  as  an  acknowledgment  of 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  ^GEAN       165 

subjection,  Themistocles,  by  the  consent  of  the  people,  seized  upon 
the  interpreter,  and  put  him  to  death,  for  presuming  to  pubhsh  the 
barbarian  orders  and  decrees  in  the  Greek  language  ;  this  is  one 
of  the  actions  he  is  commended  for,  as  also  for  what  he  did  to 
Arthmius  of  Zelea,  who  brought  gold  from  the  king  of  Persia  to 
corrupt  the  Greeks,  and  was,  by  an  order  from  Themistocles,  de- 
graded and  disfranchised,  he  and  his  children  and  his  posterity  ; 
but  that  which  most  of  all  redounded  to  his  credit  was,  that  he  put 
an  end  to  all  the  civil  wars  of  Greece,  composed  their  differences, 
and  persuaded  them  to  lay  aside  all  enmity  during  the  war  with 
the  Persians  ;  and  in  this  great  work,  Chileus  the  Arcadian  was, 
it  is  said,  of  great  assistance  to  him. 

Darius  now  proceeded  to  take  personal  charge  of  the  invasion, 
intrusting  it  to  generals  of  his  own  selection,  Hippias,  son  of 
Pisistratus,  who  had  long  been  in  exile  was  only  too  glad  to  join 
the  Persians  and  guide  them  to  the  best  points  of  attack.  That 
personal  reasons  entered  into  his  conduct  may  easily  be  seen  from 
his  desire  to  overthrow  the  existing  constitution  and  get  into  power 
again,  and  from  the  prominent  position  occupied  by  his  ancestral 
enemy  Miltiades. 

Herodotus^  VI,  94-101 

Meantime  the  Persian  pursued  his  own  design,  from  day  to  day 
exhorted  by  his  servant  to  "remember  the  Athenians,"  and  like- 
wise urged  continually  by  the  Pisistratidae,  who  were  ever  accusing 
their  countrymen.  Moreover  it  pleased  him  well  to  have  a  pretext 
for  carrying  war  into  Greece,  that  so  he  might  reduce  all  those 
who  had  refused  to  give  him  earth  and  water.  As  for  Mardonius, 
since  his  expedition  had  succeeded  so  ill,  Darius  took  command  of 
the  troops  from  him,  and  appointed  other  generals  in  his  stead, 
who  were  to  lead  the  host  against  Eretria  and  Athens  ;  to  wit, 
Datis,  who  was  by  descent  a  Mede,  and  Artaphernes,  the  son  of 
Artaphernes,  his  own  nephew.  These  men  received  order's  to 
carry  Athens  and  Eretria  away  captive,  and  to  bring  the  prisoners 
into  his  presence. 


1 66  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

So  the  new  commanders  took  their  departure  from  the  court  and 
went  down  to  Cihcia,  to  the  Aleian  plain,  having  with  them  a 
numerous  and  well-appointed  land  army.  Encamping  here,  they 
were  joined  by  the  sea  force  which  had  been  required  of  the  sev- 
eral states,  and  at  the  same  time  by  the  horse-transports  which 
Darius  had,  the  year  before,  commanded  his  tributaries  to  make 
ready.  Aboard  these  the  horses  were  embarked  ;  and  the  troops 
were  received  by  the  ships  of  war ;  after  which  the  whole  fleet, 
amounting  in  all  to  six  hundred  triremes,  made  sail  for  Ionia. 
Thence,  instead  of  proceeding  with  a  straight  course  along  the 
shore  to  the  Hellespont  and  to  Thrace,  they  loosed  from  Samos 
and  voyaged  across  the  Icarian  sea  through  the  midst  of  the  islands  ; 
mainly,  as  I  believe,  because  they  feared  the  danger  of  doubling 
Mount  Athos,  where  the  year  before  they  had  suffered  so  grievously 
on  their  passage  ;  but  a  constraining  cause  also  was  their  former 
failure  to  take  Naxos. 

When  the  Persians,  therefore,  approaching  from  the  Icarian 
sea,  cast  anchor  at  Naxos,  which,  recollecting  what  there  befell 
them  formerly,  they  had  determined  to  attack  before  any  other 
state,  the  Naxians,  instead  of  encountering  them,  took  to  flight, 
and  hurried  off  to  the  hills.  The  Persians  however  succeeded  in 
laying  hands  on  some,  and  them  they  carried  away  captive,  while 
at  the  same  time  they  burnt  all  the  temples  together  with  the  town. 
This  done,  they  left  Naxos,  and  sailed  away  to  the  other  islands. 

While  the  Persians  were  thus  employed,  the  Delians  likewise 
quitted  Delos,  and  took  refuge  in  Tenos.  And  now  the  expedition 
drew  near,  when  Datis  sailed  forward  in  advance  of  the  other  ships  ; 
commanding  them,  instead  of  anchoring  at  Delos,  to  rendezvous 
at  Rhenea,  over  against  Delos,  while  he  himself  proceeded  to  dis- 
cover whither  the  Delians  had  fled  ;  after  which  he  sent  a  herald 
to  them  with  this  message  :  — 

"  Why  are  ye  fled,  O  holy  men  .?  Why  have  ye  judged  me  so 
harshly  and  so  wrongfully.?  I  have  surely  sense  enough,  even  had 
not  the  king  so  ordered,  to  spare  the  country  which  gave  birth  to 
the  two  gods, —  to  spare,  I  say,  both  the  country  and  its  inhabitants. 
Come  back  therefore  to  your  dwellings  ;  and  once  more  inhabit 
your  island." 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  ^GEAN        167 

Such  was  the  message  which  Datis  sent  by  his  herald  to  the 
Dehans.  He  hkewise  placed  upon  the  altar  three  hundred  talents' 
weight  of  frankincense,  and  offered  it. 

After  this  he  sailed  with  his  whole  host  against  Eretria,  taking 
with  him  both  lonians  and  /Eolians.  When  he  was  departed,  Delos 
(as  the  Delians  told  me)  was  shaken  by  an  earthquake,  the  first 
and  last  shock  that  has  been  felt  to  this  day.  And  truly  this  was  a 
prodigy  whereby  the  god  warned  men  of  the  evils  that  were  coming 
upon  them.  For  in  the  three  following  generations  of  Darius  the 
son  of  Hystaspes,  Xerxes  the  son  of  Darius,  and  Artaxerxes  the 
son  of  Xerxes,  more  woes  befell  Greece  than  in  the  twenty  genera- 
tions preceding  Darius  ;  —  woes  caused  in  part  by  the  Persians,  but 
in  part  arising  from  the  contentions  among  their  own  chief  men  re- 
specting the  supreme  power.  Wherefore  it  is  not  surprising  that 
Delos,  though  it  had  never  before  been  shaken,  should  at  that  time 
have  felt  the  shock  of  an  earthquake.  And  indeed  there  was  an 
oracle,  which  said  of  Delos  — 

"  Delos'  self  will  I  shake,  which  never  yet  has  been  shaken." 

Of  the  above  names  Darius  may  be  rendered  "  Worker,"  Xerxes 
"Warrior,"  and  Artaxerxes  "Great  Warrior,"  And  so  might  we 
call  these  kings  in  our  own  language  with  propriety. 

The  barbarians,  after  loosing  from  Delos,  proceeded  to  touch 
at  the  other  islands,  and  took  troops  from  each,  and  likewise 
carried  off  a  number  of  the  children  as  hostages.  Going  thus  from 
one  to  another,  they  came  at  last  to  Carystus  ;  but  here  the  hostages 
were  refused  by  the  Carystians,  who  said  they  would  neither  give  any, 
nor  consent  to  bear  arms  against  the  cities  of  their  neighbours, 
meaning  Athens  and  Eretria.  Hereupon  the  Persians  laid  siege  to 
Carystus,  and  wasted  the  country  round,  until  at  length  the  inhabit- 
ants were  brought  over  and  agreed  to  do  what  was  required  of  them. 

Meanwhile  the  Eretrians,  understanding  that  the  Persian  arma- 
ment was  coming  against  them,  besought  the  Athenians  for  assist- 
ance. Nor  did  the  Athenians  refuse  their  aid,  but  assigned  to  them 
as  auxiliaries  the  four  thousand  landholders  to  whom  they  had 
allotted  the  estates  of  the  Chalcidean  Hippobatae.  At  Eretria,  how- 
ever, things  were  in  no  healthy  state  ;  for  though  they  had  called 


i68  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

in  the  aid  of  the  Athenians,  yet  they  were  not  agreed  among  them- 
selves how  they  should  act ;  some  of  them  were  minded  to  leave 
the  city  and  to  take  refuge  in  the  heights  of  Euboea,  while  others, 
who  looked  to  receiving  a  reward  from  the  Persians,  were  making 
ready  to  betray  their  country.  So  when  these  things  came  to  the 
ears  of  ^schines,  the  son  of  Nothon,  one  of  the  first  men  in 
Eretria,  he  made  known  the  whole  state  of  affairs  to  the  Athenians 
who  were  already  arrived,  and  besought  them  to  return  home  to 
their  own  land,  and  not  perish  with  his  countrymen.  And  the 
Athenians  hearkened  to  his  counsel,  and,  crossing  over  to  Oropus, 
in  this  way  escaped  the  danger. 

The  Persian  fleet  now  drew  near  and  anchored  at  Tamynae, 
Choereae,  and  yEgilia,  three  places  in  the  territory  of  Eretria. 
Once  masters  of  these  posts,  they  proceeded  forthwith  to  disem- 
bark their  horses,  and  made  ready  to  attack  the  enemy.  But  the 
Eretrians  were  not  minded  to  sally  forth  and  offer  battle ;  their 
only  care,  after  it  had  been  resolved  not  to  quit  the  city,  was,  if 
possible,  to  defend  their  walls.  And  now  the  fortress  was  assaulted 
in  good  earnest,  and  for  six  days  there  fell  on  both  sides  vast 
numbers,  but  on  the  seventh  day  Euphorbus,  the  son  of  Alcimachus, 
and  Philagrus,  the  son  of  Cyneas,  who  were  both  citizens  of  good 
repute,  betrayed  the  place  to  the  Persians.  These  were  no  sooner 
entered  within  the  walls  than  they  plundered  and  burnt  all  the 
temples  that  there  were  in  the  town,  in  revenge  for  the  burning 
of  their  own  temples  at  Sardis  ;  moreover,  they  did  according  to 
the  orders  of  Darius,  and  carried  away  captive  all  the  inhabitants. 

4.  MARATHON 

The  only  continuous  narrative  of  the  battle  of  Marathon  that 
has  been  preserved  is  that  of  Herodotus,  but  there  are  few  events 
which  were  more  generally  and  constantly  commemorated  in 
legend,  verse,  and  art. 

Herodotus,  VI,  102,  104-106 

The  Persians,  having  thus  brought  Eretria  into  subjection  after 
waiting  a  few  days,  made  sail  for  Attica,  greatly  straitening  the 
Athenians  as  they  approached,  and  thinking  to  deal  with  them  as 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  yEGEAN       169 

they  had  dealt  with  the  people  of  Eretria.  And,  because  there  was 
no  place  in  all  Attica  so  convenient  for  their  horse  as  Marathon, 
and  it  lay  moreover  quite  close  to  Eretria,  therefore  Hippias,  the 
son  of  Pisistratus,  conducted  them  thither. 

When  intelligence  of  this  reached  the  Athenians,  they  likewise 
marched  their  troops  to  Marathon,  and  there  stood  on  the  defensive, 
having  at  their  head  ten  generals,  of  whom  one  was  Miltiades.  .  .  . 

It  was  this  Miltiades  who  now  commanded  the  Athenians,  after 
escaping  from  the  Chersonese,  and  twice  nearly  losing  his  life. 
First  he  was  chased  as  far  as  Imbrus  by  the  Phoenicians,  who  had 
a  great  desire  to  take  him  and  carry  him  up  to  the  king  ;  and  when 
he  had  avoided  this  danger,  and,  having  reached  his  own  country, 
thought  himself  to  be  altogether  in  safety,  he  found  his  enemies 
waiting  for  him,  and  was  cited  by  them  before  a  court  and  impeached 
for  his  tyranny  in  the  Chersonese.  But  he  came  off  victorious  here 
likewise,  and  was  thereupon  made  general  of  the  Athenians  by 
the  free  choice  of  the  people. 

And  first,  before  they  left  the  city,  the  generals  sent  off  to  Sparta 
a  herald,  one  Pheidippides,  who  was  by  birth  an  Athenian,  and  by 
profession  and  practice  a  trained  runner.  This  man,  according  to 
the  account  which  he  gave  to  the  Athenians  on  his  return,  when 
he  was  near  Mount  Parthenium,  above  Tegea,  fell  in  with  the  god 
Pan,  who  called  him  by  his  name,  and  bade  him  ask  the  Athenians 
"wherefore  they  neglected  him  so  entirely,  when  he  was  kindly 
disposed  towards  them,  and  had  often  helped  them  in  times  past, 
and  would  do  so  again  in  time  to  come  .-*  "  The  Athenians,  entirely 
believing  in  the  truth  of  this  report,  as  soon  as  their  affairs  were 
once  more  in  good  order,  set  up  a  temple  to  Pan  under  the 
Acropolis,  and,  in  return  for  the  message  which  I  have  recorded, 
established  in  his  honour  yearly  sacrifices  and  a  torch-race. 

On  the  occasion  of  which  we  speak,  when  Pheidippides  was 
sent  by  the  Athenian  generals,  and,  according  to  his  own  account, 
saw  Pan  on  his  journey,  he  reached  Sparta  on  the  very  next  day 
after  quitting  the  city  of  Athens.  Upon  his  arrival  he  went  before 
the  rulers,  and  said  to  them  — 

"  Men  of  Lacedaemon,  the  Athenians  beseech  you  to  hasten  to 
their  aid,  and  not  allow  that  state,  which  is  the  most  ancient  in  all 


I/O  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Greece,  to  be  enslaved  by  the  barbarians.  Eretria,  look  you,  is 
already  carried  away  captive  ;  and  Greece  weakened  by  the  loss 
of  no  mean  city." 

Thus  did  Pheidippides  deliver  the  message  committed  to  him. 
And  the  Spartans  wished  to  help  the  Athenians,  but  were  unable 
to  give  them  any  present  succour,  as  they  did  not  like  to  break 
their  established  law.  It  was  then  the  ninth  day  of  the  first  dec- 
ade ;  and  they  could  not  march  out  of  Sparta  on  the  ninth,  when 
the  moon  had  not  reached  the  full.  So  they  waited  for  the  full 
of  the  moon. 

Herodotus,  VI,  108-117 

The  Athenians  were  drawn  up  in  order  of  battle  in  a  sacred 
close  belonging  to  Hercules,  when  they  were  joined  by  the  Plataeans, 
who  came  in  full  force  to  their  aid.  Some  time  before,  the  Plataeans 
had  put  themselves  under  the  rule  of  the  Athenians  ;  and  these 
last  had  already  undertaken  many  labours  on  their  behalf.   .  .  . 

The  Athenian  generals  were  divided  in  their  opinions ;  and 
some  advised  not  to  risk  a  battle,  because  they  were  too  few  to 
engage  such  a  host  as  that  of  the  Medes,  while  others  were  for 
fighting  at  once  ;  and  among  these  last  was  Miltiades.  He  there- 
fore, seeing  that  opinions  were  thus  divided,  and  that  the  less 
worthy  counsel  appeared  likely  to  prevail,  resolved  to  go  to  the 
polemarch,  and  have  a  conference  with  him.  For  the  man  on 
whom  the  lot  fell  to  be  polemarch  at  Athens  was  entitled  to  give 
his  vote  with  the  ten  generals,  since  anciently  the  Athenians 
allowed  him  an  equal  right  of  voting  with  them.  The  polemarch 
at  this  juncture  was  Callimachus  of  Aphidnae ;  to  him  therefore 
Miltiades  went,  and  said:  — 

"  With  thee  it  rests,  Callimachus,  either  to  bring  Athens  to 
slavery,  or,  by  securing  her  freedom,  to  leave  behind  thee  to  all 
future  generations  a  memory  beyond  even  Harmodius  and  Aris- 
togeiton.  For  never  since  the  time  that  the  Athenians  became  a 
people  were  they  in  so  great  a  danger  as  now.  If  they  bow  their 
necks  beneath  the  yoke  of  the  Medes,  the  woes  which  they  will 
have  to  suffer  when  given  into  the  power  of  Hippias  are  already 
determined  on  ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  they  fight  and  overcome, 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  ^.GEAN       171 

Athens  may  rise  to  be  the  very  first  city  in  Greece.  How  it  comes 
to  pass  that  these  things  are  Hkely  to  happen,  and  how  the  determin- 
ing of  them  in  some  sort  rests  with  thee,  I  will  now  proceed  to  make 
clear.  We  generals  are  ten  in  number,  and  our  votes  are  divided  ; 
half  of  us  wish  to  engage,  half  to  avoid  a  combat.  Now,  if  we  do 
not  fight,  I  look  to  see  a  great  disturbance  at  Athens  which  will 
shake  men's  resolutions,  and  then  I  fear  they  will  submit  them- 
selves ;  but  if  we  fight  the  battle  before  any  unsoundness  show  it- 
self among  our  citizens,  let  the  gods  but  give  us  fair  play,  and  we 
are  well  able  to  overcome  the  enemy.  On  thee  therefore  we  depend 
in  this  matter,  which  lies  wholly  in  thine  own  power.  Thou  hast 
only  to  add  thy  vote  to  my  side  and  thy  country  will  be  free,  and 
not  free  only,  but  the  first  state  in  Greece.  Or,  if  thou  preferrest 
to  give  thy  vote  to  them  who  would  decline  the  combat,  then  the 
reverse  will  follow," 

Miltiades  by  these  words  gained  Callimachus  ;  and  the  addition 
of  the  polemarch's  vote  caused  the  decision  to  be  in  favour  of  fight- 
ing. Hereupon  all  those  generals  who  had  been  desirous  of  hazard- 
ing a  battle,  when  their  turn  came  to  command  the  army,  gave  up 
their  right  to  Miltiades,  He  however,  though  he  accepted  their 
offers,  nevertheless  waited,  and  would  not  fight,  until  his  own  day 
of  command  arrived  in  due  course. 

Then  at  length,  when  his  own  turn  was  come,  the  Athenian 
battle  was  set  in  array,  and  this  was  the  order  of  it.  Callimachus 
the  polemarch  led  the  right  wing ;  for  it  was  at  that  time  a  rule 
with  the  Athenians  to  give  the  right  wing  to  the  polemarch. 
After  this  followed  the  tribes,  according  as  they  were  numbered, 
in  an  unbroken  line  ;  while  last  of  all  came  the  Platasans,  forming 
the  left  wing.  And  ever  since  that  day  it  has  been  a  custom  with 
the  Athenians,  in  the  sacrifices  and  assemblies  held  each  fifth  year 
at  Athens,  for  the  Athenian  herald  to  implore  the  blessing  of  the 
gods  on  the  Platasans  conjointly  with  the  Athenians,  Now,  as  they 
marshalled  the  host  upon  the  field  of  Marathon,  in  order  that  the 
Athenian  front  might  be  of  equal  length  with  the  Median,  the  ranks 
of  the  centre  were  diminished,  and  it  became  the  weakest  part  of 
the  line,  while  the  wings  were  both  made  strong  with  a  depth  of 
many  ranks. 


172  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

So  when  the  battle  was  set  in  array,  and  the  victims  showed 
themselves  favourable,  instantly  the  Athenians,  so  soon  as  they 
were  let  go,  charged  the  barbarians  at  a  run.  Now  the  distance 
between  the  two  armies  was  little  short  of  eight  furlongs.  The 
Persians,  therefore,  when  they  saw  the  Greeks  coming  on  at  speed, 
made  ready  to  receive  them,  although  it  seemed  to  them  that  the 
Athenians  were  bereft  of  their  senses,  and  bent  upon  their  own 
destruction  ;  for  they  saw  a  mere  handful  of  men  coming  on  at  a 
run  without  either  horsemen  or  archers.  Such  was  the  opinion  of 
the  barbarians  ;  but  the  Athenians  in  close  array  fell  upon  them, 
and  fought  in  a  manner  worthy  of  being  recorded.  They  were  the 
first  of  the  Greeks,  so  far  as  I  know,  who  introduced  the  custom 
of  charging  the  enemy  at  a  run,  and  they  were  likewise  the  first 
who  dared  to  look  upon  the  Median  garb,  and  to  face  men  clad  in 
that  fashion.  Until  this  time  the  very  name  of  the  Medes  had 
been  a  terror  to  the  Greeks  to  hear. 

The  two  armies  fought  together  on  the  plain  of  Marathon  for  a 
length  of  time  ;  and  in  the  mid  battle,  where  the  Persians  them- 
selves and  the  Sacae  had  their  place,  the  barbarians  were  victorious, 
and  broke  and  pursued  the  Greeks  into  the  inner  country ;  but  on 
the  two  wings  the  Athenians  and  the  Platasans  defeated  the  enemy. 
Having  so  done,  they  suffered  the  routed  barbarians  to  fly  at  their 
ease,  and  joining  the  two  wings  in  one,  fell  upon  those  who  had 
broken  their  own  centre,  and  fought  and  conquered  them.  These 
likewise  fled,  and  now  the  Athenians  hung  upon  the  runaways  and 
cut  them  down,  chasing  them  all  the  way  to  the  shore,  on  reaching 
which  they  laid  hold  of  the  ships  and  called  aloud  for  fire. 

It  was  in  the  struggle  here  that  Callimachus  the  polemarch,  after 
greatly  distinguishing  himself,  lost  his  life ;  Stesilaus  too,  the  son 
of  Thrasilaus,  one  of  the  generals,  was  slain  ;  and  Cynaegirus,  the 
son  of  Euphorion,  having  seized  on  a  vessel  of  the  enemy's  by  the 
ornament  at  the  stern,  had  his  hand  cut  off  by  the  blow  of  an  axe, 
and  so  perished  ;  as  likewise  did  many  other  Athenians  of  note 
and  name. 

Nevertheless  the  Athenians  secured  in  this  way  seven  of  the 
vessels ;  while  with  the  remainder  the  barbarians  pushed  off,  and 
taking  aboard  their  Eretrian  prisoners  from  the  island  where  they 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  ^:gEAN       173 

had  left  them,  doubled  Cape  Sunium,  hoping  to  reach  Athens  be- 
fore the  return  of  the  Athenians.  The  Alcmasonidae  were  accused 
by  their  countrymen  of  suggesting  this  course  to  them  ;  they  had, 
it  was  said,  an  understanding  with  the  Persians,  and  made  a  signal 
to  them,  by  raising  a  shield,  after  they  were  embarked  in  their  ships. 

The  Persians  accordingly  sailed  round  Sunium.  But  the  Athe- 
nians with  all  possible  speed  marched  away  to  the  defence  of  their 
city,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  Athens  before  the  appearance  of 
the  barbarians  :  and  as  their  camp  at  Marathon  had  been  pitched 
in  a  precinct  of  Hercules,  so  now  they  encamped  in  another  pre- 
cinct of  the  same  god  at  Cynosarges.  The  barbarian  fleet  arrived, 
and  lay  to  off  Phalerum,  which  was  at  that  time  the  haven  of  Athens ; 
but  after  resting  awhile  upon  their  oars,  they  departed  and  sailed 
away  to  Asia. 

There  fell  in  this  battle  of  Marathon,  on  the  side  of  the  bar- 
barians, about  six  thousand  and  four  hundred  men  ;  on  that  of  the 
Athenians,  one  hundred  and  ninety-two.  Such  was  the  number  of 
the  slain  on  the  one  side  and  the  other. 

Plutarch,  Aristides,  V  (tr.  Perrin) 

In  the  battle  the  Athenian  centre  was  the  hardest  pressed,  and 
it/Was  there  that  the  Barbarians  held  their  ground  the  longest,  over 
against  the  tribes  Leontis  and  Antiochis.  There,  then,  Themisto- 
cles  and  Aristides  fought  brilliantly,  ranged  side  by  side  ;  for  one 
was  a  Leontid,  the  other  an  Antiochid. 

The  following  quotation  from  the  "  Persians  "  of  yEschylus  brings 
out  most  vividly  the  ignorance  of  Persia  regarding  Athens. 

The  scene  is  by  a  stroke  of  dramatic  genius  laid  at  the  Persian 
court  at  the  time  of  Xerxes'  invasion,  ten  years  later  than  that  of 
Darius.  Atossa,  the  queen,  a  very  intelligent  woman,  whose  opinion 
was  highly  respected  by  all  at  the  court,  seems  to  know  little  of 
Athens.  It  is  hard  to  decide  whether  the  great  defeat  of  ten  years 
before  had  faded  from  her  mind  or  whether  it  was  too  incidental 
to  trouble  about.  The  following  dialogue  takes  place  between  her 
and  the  chorus,  composed  of  Persian  elders. 


174  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  231-245 

Atossa.    Yet  one  doubt,  dear  friends,  resolve  me.   Tell  me, 

Persians,  if  ye  may, 
Whereabout  on  Earth's  wide  bosom  Athens  lies,  as  travellers  say. 
Cho.    Yonder,  where  our  lord  the  Sun-god  droops  and  dwindles, 

far  away. 
At.    Wherefore  was  my  son  desirous  Athens  'neath  his  power 

to  bring  ? 
Cho.    Hellas  then  in  all  her  borders  would  be  subject  to  the  king. 
At.    Say ;  keeps  Athens  at  her  bidding  such  a  multitudinous 

host .? 
Cho.    Such  a  host,  whose  valiant  prowess  Persia  knows  of  to 

her  cost. 
At.    What  besides  their   men  of  valour }    Have  they  wealth 

enough  in  store  .-' 
Cho.    Yea,  a  vein  by  nature  treasured  in  their  land,  of  silver  ore. 
At.    Is  it  strength  to  draw  the  arrow  that  exalts  them  thus  in 

might  .-* 
Cho.    Not  the  bow,  but  shielded  armour,  and  the  spear  for 

standing  fight. 
At.    Say,  what  shepherd  sways  their  numbers  1  who  their  army's 

king  and  lord  .? 
Cho.    They  call  no  man  lord  or  master,  buckle  under  no  man's 

word. 
At.   Then  they  ne'er  will  stand  the  onset  of  a  strange  invading  foe. 
Cho.    They  destroyed  Dareius'  army,  great  in  number,  fair  in 

show. 
At.    Thought  of  terror  for  the  parents  of  our  warriors  now  away  ! 

^SCHVLUS,  Persians,  472-476 

At.   O  sullen  Fortune  !    How  deceitfully 
Thou  hast  robbed  the  Persians  of  their  purposes  ! 
To  his  unending  sorrow  hath  my  son 
Pursued  his  vengeance  on  the  Athenians'  pride  ! 
Too  few  of  ours  did  Marathon  consume. 
For  whom  my  son  planning  the  recompense. 
Hath  brought  this  tumult  of  disasters  down. 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  PERSIA  TO  THE  /EGEAN       175 

The  following  epigram,  said  to  have  been  written  by  /Eschylus 
for  his  own  tomb,  makes  no  mention  of  himself  as  the  foremost 
dramatist  of  his  day,  his  bravery  in  the  battle  of  Marathon  being 
in  his  eyes  his  chief  claim  to  fame. 

^SCHYLUS,  Epigram  4  (tr.  Mackail) 

^schylus  son  of  Euphorion  the  Athenian  this  monument  hides, 
who  died  in  wheat-bearing  Gela  ;  but  of  his  approved  valour  the 
Marathonian  grave  may  tell  and  the  deep-haired  Mede  who  knew  it. 

Pausanias  mentions  one  or  two  of  the  commemorative  monu- 
ments, and  the  "  soros,"  or  mound,  of  Marathon  is  still  the  domi- 
nant feature  on  the  plain. ^  The  "  Men  of  Marathon  "  became 
proverbial  and  are  constantly  being  held  up,  by  Aristophanes  for 
example,  as  models  for  their  degenerate  successors  to  whom  they 
formed  so  great  a  contrast. 

Pausanias^  HI,  xii,  7 

The  people  of  yEgium  in  Achaia  also  show  a  tomb  in  their 
market-place  which  they  assert  to  be  the  tomb  of  Talthybius. 
When  the  heralds  whom  King  Darius  sent  to  Greece  to  demand 
earth  and  water  were  murdered,  the  wrath  of  Talthybius  at  the 
crime  was  manifested  against  Lacedasmon  as  a  state ;  but  at  Athens 
it  fell  on  the  house  of  a  private  man,  Miltiades,  son  of  Cimon. 
For  it  was  Miltiades  who  caused  the  Athenians  to  kill  the  heralds 
that  came  to  Attica. 

Pausanias,  I,  xxxii,  3 

There  is  a  township  of  Marathon  equally  distant  from  Athens 
and  from  Carystus  in  Euboea.  It  was  at  this  point  of  Attica  that 
the  barbarians  landed,  and  were  beaten  in  battle,  and  lost  some  of 
their  ships  as  they  were  putting  off  to  sea.  In  the  plain  is  the 
grave  of  the  Athenians,  and  over  it  are  tombstones  with  the  names 
of  the  fallen  arranged  according  to  tribes.    There  is  another  grave 

1  Macan,  "  Herodotus,"  Bks.  VII-IX,  Vol.  II,  App.  I,  pp.  5-6,  footnote  i,  gives  an  ex- 
haustive list  of  the  memorials  of  the  battle  as  well  as  many  references  to  it  in  literature  for 
centuries  after. 


1/6  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

for  the  Boeotians  of  Plataea  and  the  slaves ;  for  slaves  fought  then 
for  the  first  time.  There  is  a  separate  tomb  of  Miltiades,  son  of 
Cimon.  He  died  subsequently,  after  he  had  failed  to  capture  Paros, 
and  had  been  put  on  his  trial  for  it  by  the  Athenians,  Here  every 
night  you  may  hear  horses  neighing  and  men  fighting.  To  go  on 
purpose  to  see  the  sight  never  brought  good  to  any  man  ;  but  with 
him  who  unwittingly  lights  upon  it  by  accident  the  spirits  are  not 
angry.  The  people  of  Marathon  worship  the  men  who  fell  in  the 
battle,  naming  them  heroes  ;  and  they  worship  Marathon,  from 
whom  the  township  got  its  name;  and  Hercules,  alleging  that  they 
were  the  first  of  the  Greeks  who  deemed  Hercules  a  god.  Now  it 
befell,  they  say,  that  in  the  battle  there  was  present  a  man  of  rustic 
aspect  and  dress,  who  slaughtered  many  of  the  barbarians  with  a 
plough,  and  vanished  after  the  fight.  When  the  Athenians  inquired 
of  the  god,  the  only  answer  he  vouchsafed  was  to  bid  them  honour 
the  hero  Echetlaeus.  There  is  also  a  trophy  of  white  marble.  The 
Athenians  assert  that  they  buried  the  Medes,  because  it  is  a  sacred 
and  imperative  duty  to  cover  with  earth  a  human  corpse,  but  I  could 
find  no  grave  ;  for  there  was  neither  a  barrow  nor  any  other  mark 
to  be  seen  :  they  just  carried  them  to  a  trench  and  flung  them  in 
pell-mell.^ 

1  For  the  epigrams  of  Simonides  on  Marathon  see  the  following  chapter,  where  all  those 
relating  to  the  Persian  wars  are  given  together. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE 

Xerxes  —  Preparations  of  the  Persians — Preparations  of  the  Greeks  —  Ther- 
mopylae and  Artemisium  —  Capture  of  the  AcropoHs — Salamis  ;  preparations  — 
The  battle  of  Salamis  —  Platsea  —  Mycale  —  Importance  of  the  war  for  Athens  — 
Themistocles  —  The  western  Greeks  —  Rise  of  Gelon  —  Victories  over  Carthage 
and  the  Etruscans  —  Various  battles  of  the  Persian  war 

I.    Xerxes 

1.  PREPARATIONS  OF  THE  PERSIANS 

Preparations  for  another  invasion  were  at  once  begun  by  Darius 
and  carried  on  after  his  death  by  Xerxes,  The  following  selections 
tell  the  stupendous  scale  on  which  they  were  made  and  the  great 
number  of  troops  involved. ^ 

The  speech  put  by  Herodotus  into  the  mouth  of  Xerxes  gives 
several  of  the  motives  which  inspired  the  undertaking. 

Herodotus^  VII,  i,  4-5 

Now  when  tidings  of  the  battle  that  had  been  fought  at  Mara- 
thon reached  the  ears  of  King  Darius,  the  son  of  Hystaspes,  his 
anger  against  the  Athenians,  which  had  been  already  roused  by 
their  attack  upon  Sardis,  waxed  still  fiercer,  and  he  became  more 
than  ever  eager  to  lead  an  army  against  Greece.  Instantly  he  sent 
off  messengers  to  make  proclamation  through  the  several  states, 
that  fresh  levies  were  to  be  raised,  and  these  at  an  increased  rate ; 
while  ships,  horses,  provisions,  and  transports  were  likewise  to  be 
furnished.  So  the  men  published  his  commands ;  and  now  all  Asia 
was  in  commotion  by  the  space  of  three  years,  while  everywhere, 
as  Greece  was  to  be  attacked,  the  best  and  bravest  were  enrolled 
for  the  service,  and  had  to  make  their  preparations  accordingly,  ,  .  . 

1  See  Tarn,  "  The  Fleet  of  Xerxes,"  in  /.  H.  S.,  1908  pp.  202  ff.,  for  a  recent  estimate 
of  the  numbers. 

177 


1/8  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Darius,  when  he  had  thus  appointed  Xerxes  his  heir,  was  minded 
to  lead  forth  his  armies ;  but  he  was  prevented  by  death  while  his 
preparations  were  still  proceeding.  He  died  in  the  year  following 
the  revolt  of  Egypt  and  the  matters  here  related,  after  having 
reigned  in  all  six-and-thirty  years,  leaving  the  revolted  Egyptians 
and  the  Athenians  alike  unpunished.  At  his  death  the  kingdom 
passed  to  his  son  Xerxes. 

Now  Xerxes,  on  first  mounting  the  throne,  was  coldly  disposed 
towards  the  Grecian  war,  and  made  it  his  business  to  collect  an 
army  against  Egypt.  But  Mardonius,  the  son  of  Gobryas,  who  was 
at  the  court,  and  had  more  influence  with  him  than  any  of  the 
other  Persians,  being  his  own  cousin,  the  child  of  a  sister  of  Darius, 
plied  him  with  discourses  like  the  following  :  — 

"  Master,  it  is  not  fitting  that  they  of  Athens  escape  scot-free, 
after  doing  the  Persians  such  great  injury.  Complete  the  work 
which  thou  hast  now  on  hand,  and  then,  when  the  pride  of  Egypt 
is  brought  low,  lead  an  army  against  Athens.  So  shalt  thou  thy- 
self have  good  report  among  men,  and  others  shall  fear  hereafter 
to  attack  thy  country." 

Thus  far  it  was  of  vengeance  that  he  spoke  ;  but  sometimes  he 
would  vary  the  theme,  and  observe  by  the  way,  "  that  Europe  was 
a  wondrous  beautiful  region,  rich  in  all  kinds  of  cultivated  trees, 
and  the  soil  excellent :  no  one,  save  the  king,  was  worthy  to  own 
such  a  land." 

Herodotus,  VII,  8,  20,  33-35 

"  My  intent  is  to  throw  a  bridge  over  the  Hellespont  and  march 
an  army  through  Europe  against  Greece,  that  thereby  I  may 
obtain  vengeance  from  the  Athenians  for  the  wrongs  committed 
by  them  against  the  Persians  and  against  my  father.  Your  own 
eyes  saw  the  preparations  of  Darius  against  these  men  ;  but  death 
came  upon  him,  and  balked  his  hopes  of  revenge.  In  his  behalf, 
therefore,  and  in  behalf  of  all  the  Persians,  I  undertake  the  war, 
and  pledge  myself  not  to  rest  till  I  have  taken  and  burnt  Athens, 
which  has  dared,  unprovoked,  to  injure  me  and  my  father.  Long 
since  they  came  to  Asia  with  Aristagoras  of  Miletus,  who  was  one 
of  our  slaves,  and,  entering  Sardis,  burnt  its  temples  and  its  sacred 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  179 

groves ;  again,  more  lately,  when  we  made  a  landing  upon  their 
coast  under  Datis  and  Artaphernes,  how  roughly  they  handled  us 
ye  do  not  need  to  be  told."   .  .  . 

Reckoning  from  the  recovery  of  Egypt,  Xerxes  spent  four  full 
years  in  collecting  his  host,  and  making  ready  all  things  that  were 
needful  for  his  soldiers.  It  was  not  till  the  close  of  the  fifth  year 
that  he  set  forth  on  his  march,  accompanied  by  a  mighty  multitude. 
For  of  all  the  armaments  whereof  any  mention  has  reached  us, 
this  was  by  far  the  greatest ;  insomuch  that  no  other  expedition 
compared  to  this  seems  of  any  account.   .  .   . 

Xerxes,  after  this,  made  preparations  to  advance  to  Abydos, 
where  the  bridge  across  the  Hellespont  from  Asia  to  Europe  was 
lately  finished.  Midway  between  Sestos  and  Madytus  in  the  Hel- 
lespontine  Chersonese,  and  right  over  against  Abydos,  there  is  a 
rocky  tongue  of  land  which  runs  out  for  some  distance  into  the 
sea.  This  is  the  place  where  no  long  time  afterwards  the  Greeks 
under  Xanthippus,  the  son  of  Ariphron,  took  Artayctes  the  Per- 
sian, who  was  at  that  time  governor  of  Sestos,  and  nailed  him 
living  to  a  plank.  He  was  the  Artayctes  who  brought  women  into 
the  temple  of  Protesilaus  at  Elaeus,  and  there  was  guilty  of  most 
unholy  deeds. 

Towards  this  tongue  of  land  then,  the  men  to  whom  the  business 
was  assigned  carried  out  a  double  bridge  from  Abydos  ;  and  while 
the  Phoenicians  constructed  one  line  with  cables  of  white  flax,  the 
Egyptians  in  the  other  used  ropes  made  of  papyrus.  Now  it  is 
seven  furlongs  across  from  Abydos  to  the  opposite  coast.  When, 
therefore,  the  channel  had  been  bridged  successfully,  it  happened 
that  a  great  storm  arising  broke  the  whole  work  to  pieces,  and 
destroyed  all  that  had  been  done. 

So  when  Xerxes  heard  of  it  he  was  full  of  wrath,  and  straight- 
way gave  orders  that  the  Hellespont  should  receive  three  hundred 
lashes,  and  that  a  pair  of  fetters  should  be  cast  into  it.  Nay,  I 
have  even  heard  it  said,  that  he  bade  the  branders  take  their  irons 
and  therewith  brand  the  Hellespont.  It  is  certain  that  he  com- 
manded those  who  scourged  the  waters  to  utter,  as  they  lashed 
them,  these  barbarian  and  wicked  words  :  "  Thou  bitter  water,  thy 
lord  lays  on  thee  this  punishment  because  thou  hast  wronged  him 


i8o  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

without  a  cause,  having  suffered  no  evil  at  his  hands.  Verily  King 
Xerxes  will  cross  thee,  whether  thou  wilt  or  no.  Well  dost  thou 
deserve  that  no  man  should  honour  thee  with  sacrifice ;  for  thou 
art  of  a  truth  a  treacherous  and  unsavoury  river."  While  the  sea 
was  thus  punished  by  his  orders,  he  likewise  commanded  that  the 
overseers  of  the  work  should  lose  their  heads. 

Herodotus,  VII,  55-56,  60 

When,  however,  his  offerings  were  made,  the  army  began  to 
cross  ;  and  the  foot-soldiers,  with  the  horsemen,  passed  over  by 
one  of  the  bridges  —  that  (namely)  which  lay  towards  the  Euxine 
—  while  the  sumpter-beasts  and  the  camp-followers  passed  by  the 
other,  which  looked  on  the  Egean.  Foremost  went  the  Ten  Thou- 
sand Persians,  all  wearing  garlands  upon  their  heads  ;  and  after 
them  a  mixed  multitude  of  many  nations.  These  crossed  upon 
the  first  day. 

On  the  next  day  the  horsemen  began  the  passage  ;  and  with 
them  went  the  soldiers  who  carried  their  spears  with  the  point 
downwards,  garlanded,  like  the  Ten  Thousand  ;  —  then  came  the 
sacred  horses  and  the  sacred  chariot ;  next  Xerxes  with  his  lancers 
and  the  thousand  horse  ;  then  the  rest  of  the  army.  At  the  same 
time  the  ships  sailed  over  to  the  opposite  shore.  According,  how- 
ever, to  another  account  which  I  have  heard,  the  king  crossed 
the  last. 

As  soon  as  Xerxes  had  reached  the  European  side,  he  stood  to 
contemplate  his  army  as  they  crossed  under  the  lash.  And  the 
crossing  continued  during  seven  days  and  seven  nights,  without 
rest  or  pause.  .  .  . 

What  the  exact  number  of  the  troops  of  each  nation  was  I  can- 
not say  with  certainty — for  it  is  not  mentioned  by  any  one — but  the 
whole  land  army  together  was  found  to  amount  to  one  million  seven 
hundred  thousand  men.  The  manner  in  which  the  numbering  took 
place  was  the  following.  A  body  of  ten  thousand  men  was  brought 
to  a  certain  place,  and  the  men  were  made  to  stand  as  close  to- 
gether as  possible  ;  after  which  a  circle  was  drawn  around  them, 
and  the  men  were  let  go  :  then  where  the  circle  had  been,  a  fence 
was  built  about  the  heie^ht  of  a  man's  middle  ;  and  the  enclosure 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  i8i 

was  filled  continually  with  fresh  troops,  till  the  whole  army  had 
in  this  way  been  numbered.  When  the  numbering  was  over,  the 
troops  were  drawn  up  according  to  their  several  nations. 

Herodotus^  VII,  83,  89,  96,  99-100 

The  whole  of  the  infantry  was  under  the  command  of  these 
generals,  excepting  the  Ten  Thousand.  The  Ten  Thousand,  who 
were  all  Persians  and  all  picked  men,  were  led  by  Hydarnes,  the 
son  of  Hydarnes.  They  were  called  "the  Immortals,"  for  the  fol- 
lowing reason.  If  one  of  their  body  failed  either  by  the  stroke  of 
death  or  of  disease,  forthwith  his  place  was  filled  up  by  another 
man,  so  that  their  number  was  at  no  time  either  greater  or  less 
than  10,000. 

Of  all  the  troops  the  Persians  were  adorned  with  the  greatest 
magnificence,  and  they  were  likewise  the  most  valiant.  Besides 
their  arms,  which  have  been  already  described,  they  glittered  all 
over  with  gold,  vast  quantities  of  which  they  wore  about  their 
persons.  .  .  . 

The  triremes  amounted  in  all  to  twelve  hundred  and  seven.  .  .  . 

On  board  of  every  ship  was  a  band  of  soldiers,  Persians,  Medes, 
or  Sacans.  The  Phoenician  ship^  were  the  best  sailers  in  the  fleet, 
and.  the  Sidonians  the  best  among  the  Phoenicians.  The  contin- 
gent of  each  nation,  whether  to  the  fleet  or  to  the  land  army,  had 
at  its  head  a  native  leader ;  but  the  names  of  these  leaders  I  shall 
not  mention,  as  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  course  of  my  History, 
For  the  leaders  of  some  nations  were  not  worthy  to  have  their 
names  recorded  ;  and  besides,  there  were  in  each  nation  as  many 
leaders  as  there  were  cities.  .  .  . 

Of  the  other  lower  officers  I  shall  make  no  mention,  since  no 
necessity  is  laid  on  me  ;  but  I  must  speak  of  a  certain  leader 
named  Artemisia,  whose  participation  in  the  attack  upon  Greece, 
notwithstanding  that  she  was  a  woman,  moves  my  special  wonder. 
She  had  obtained  the  sovereign  power  after  the  death  of  her  hus- 
band ;  and,  though  she  had  now  a  son  grown  up,  yet  her  brave 
spirit  and  manly  daring  sent  her  forth  to  the  war,  when  no  need 
required  her  to  adventure.  Her  name,  as  I  said,  was  Artemisia, 
and  she  was  the  daughter  of  Lygdamis  ;  by  race  she  was  on  his 


1 82  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

side  a  Halicarnassian,  though  by  her  mother  a  Cretan.  She  ruled 
over  the  Hahcarnassians,  the  men  of  Cos,  of  Nisyrus,  and  of  Ca- 
lydna ;  and  the  five  triremes  which  she  furnished  to  the  Persians 
were,  next  to  the  Sidonian,  the  most  famous  ships  in  the  fleet. 
She  likewise  gave  to  Xerxes  sounder  counsel  than  any  of  his  other 
allies.  Now  the  cities  over  which  I  have  mentioned  that  she  bore 
sway,  were  one  and  all  Dorian ;  for  the  Hahcarnassians  were 
colonists  from  Troezen,  while  the  remainder  were  from  Epidaurus. 
Thus  much  concerning  the  sea-force. 

Now  when  the  numbering  and  marshalling  of  the  host  was 
ended,  Xerxes  conceived  a  wish  to  go  himself  throughout  the 
forces,  and  with  his  own  eyes  behold  everything. 

vEscHYLUS,  Persians,  1-27 

Chorus 

When  the  countless  Persian  host 
Left  for  Hellas'  distant  coast, 
We  remained,  a  faithful  band, 
Set  to  guard  the  sacred  land,  — 
Old,  and  therefore  counted  meet 
Watchmen  of  this  ancient  seat. 
To  protect  the  hearths  and  homes 
Round  the  ancestral  golden  domes. 
Xerxes'  self,  Dareius'  son, 
King  and  lord,  chose  forth  each  one. 
Now  my  prophet-mind  within 
Darkly  musing  doth  begin 
For  our  sovereign  lord's  return, 
With  his  gilded  host,  to  yearn. 
All  the  youth  of  Asia  born 
Long  have  left  her  weak  and  lorn. 
With  a  voice  of  piteous  tone 
Cries  she  for  her  strong  ones  gone. 
Nor  to  this  our  citadel 
Runs  or  rides  a  man  to  tell 
Of  the  souls  of  priceless  worth 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  183 

Who  from  Susa's  walls  went  forth, 
And  Ecbatana's  proud  hold 
And  the  Cissian  fortress  old,  — 
Horsemen,  shipmen,  and  the  throng 
That  on  foot  make  armies  strong  : 
Haught  Amistres'  dignity, 
Artaphernes'  chivalry, 
Megabates  high  in  power. 
Bright  Astaspes,  Persia's  flower. 
Kings  that  host  were  marshalling. 
Vassals  of  the  mighty  king, 
Ordering  troops  in  countless  flow,  — 
Masters  of  the  twanging  bow. 
Masters  of  the  bounding  steed, 
Dauntless  hearts  of  glorious  breed  ; 
Dreadful  in  their  bright  array. 
Dreadful  in  the  hurtling  fray. 

^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  59-71 

Persia's  flower  of  youth  is  flown, 
Asia  mourns  her  nurslings  gone, 
Longing  wives  and  parents  dear 
Count  the  lingering  hours  with  fear. 

Over  the  firth  and  away 

To  the  opposite  neighbouring  shore 

That  conquering  host  and  their  leader  have  passed  in  royal  array. 

On  the  deep  by  the  daughter  of  Athamas  once  ferried  o'er ; 

He  hath  bridged  the  sea-ways  with  a  close-framed  flax-bound  floor. 

And  the  neck  of  the  prancing  brine  hath  felt  his  yoke. 

^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  87-91 

What  man  is  of  power,  what  army  of  strength  or  size, 
To  stem  that  torrent,  or  bar  the  invincible  wave  ? 
What  strong  sea-wall  shall  hinder  its  onward  course .-' 
Nay,  Persia's  gathered  host  hath  resistless  force, 
And  her  people's  hearts  are  brave. 


1 84  READINGS  IN  GREEK.  HISTORY 

^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  1 26-131 

For  over  the  bridge-like  mole 
Binding  Asia  to  Europe,  the  whole  great  host 

Are  gone,  every  valiant  soul ; 
Horseman,  and  footman,  and  charioteer, 
Like  a  swarm  of  bees  with  their  leader,  their  myriads  crossed, 

They  have  crossed,  and  left  us  here. 

^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  176-199 

Atossa.    I  am  nightly  visited  with  haunting  dreams, 
E'er  since  my  son  levied  that  host  and  went 
To  sack  the  towns  of  the  laones. 
But  last  night's  dream  was  far  more  clear  than  any. 
I  saw  two  women,  fairly  attired,  the  first 
In  flowing  Persian  robes  ;  in  Dorian  garb 
The  other  ;  —  on  they  came,  of  stature  tall, 
Beyond  the  measure  of  humanity. 
Faultless  in  beauty,  sisters  of  one  stock. 
But  for  their  native  dwelling-place,  methought, 
The  one  had  Grecian  land  allotted  her, 
The  other,  Barbarous.    Now,  in  my  dream, 
I  saw  them  fall  to  quarrel,  and  my  son 
Perceived  it,  and  would  tame  and  pacify 
Their  anger ;  he  would  yoke  them  to  his  car 
And  place  his  collar  on  their  necks.    Whereat 
The  one  showed  pride  in  such  accoutrement. 
With  docile  paces  curbing  to  the  rein. 
But  the  other  plunged,  and  with  rebellious  force 
Wrecked  the  fine  chariot-gear,  and  tore  away 
From  all  control,  sundering  the  equal  yoke. 
My  son  fell  headlong,  and  Dareius  stood 
Beside  and  pitied  him  —  whom  Xerxes  seeing 
Began  to  rend  his  garments  in  my  dream. 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  185 

2.  PREPARATIONS  OF  THE  GREEKS 
Certain  of  the  Greek  cities  had  in  the  meantime  been  busy 
with  preparations.  The  fatal  difficulty,  however,  in  effecting  united 
action  was  a  great  handicap.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  count 
on  who  would  stand  together  and  who  would  go  over  to  the 
Persian  side. 

The  Delphic  oracle  gave  little  encouragement,  and  the  responses 
were  more  obscure  than  ever,  but  the  common  sense  of  Themistocles 
interpreted  them  in  a  reasonable  way.  Indeed  it  was  to  him  more 
than  to  any  other  that  the  growth  of  Athens  was  due,  for  he  built 
up  its  navy,  ostensibly  for  use  against  yEgina,  so  that  when  the 
Persians  arrived  the  Athenians  had  an  excellent  fleet  to  face  them. 

Herodotus,  VII,  138-144 

To  return,  however,  to  my  main  subject,  —  the  expedition  of 
the  Persian  king,  though  it  w-as  in  name  directed  against  Athens, 
threatened  really  the  whole  of  Greece.  And  of  this  the  Greeks 
were  aware  some  time  before  ;  but  they  did  not  all  \'iew  the  matter 
in  the  same  light.  Some  of  them  had  given  the  Persian  earth  and 
w'ater,  and  were  bold  on  this  account,  deeming  themselves  thereby 
secured  against  suffering  hurt  from  the  barbarian  army ;  while  others, 
who  had  refused  compliance,  were  thrown  into  extreme  alarm.  For 
whereas  they  considered  all  the  ships  in  Greece  too  few  to  engage 
the  enemy,  it  was  plain  that  the  greater  number  of  states  would  take 
no  part  in  the  war,  but  warmly  favoured  the  Medes.  .   .  . 

If  then  a  man  should  now  say  that  the  Athenians  were  the 
saviours  of  Greece,  he  would  not  exceed  the  tmth.  For  they 
tmly  held  the  scales  ;  and  whichever  side  they  espoused  must  have 
carried  the  day.  They  too  it  was  who,  when  they  had  determined 
to  maintain  the  freedom  of  Greece,  roused  up  that  portion  of  the 
Greek  nation  which  had  not  gone  o\'er  to  the  Medes  ;  and  so,  next 
to  the  gods,  they  repulsed  the  invader.  Even  the  terrible  oracles 
which  reached  them  from  Delphi,  and  stmck  fear  into  their  hearts, 
failed  to  persuade  them  to  fly  from  Greece.  The\-  had  the  courage 
to  remain  faithful  to  their  land,  and  await  the  coming  of  the  foe. 


1 86  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

When  the  Athenians,  anxious  to  consult  the  oracle,  sent  their 
messengers  to  Delphi,  hardly  had  the  envoys  completed  the  cus- 
tomary rites  about  the  sacred  precinct,  and  taken  their  seats  inside 
the  sanctuary  of  the  god,  when  the  Pythoness,  Aristonice  by  name, 
thus  prophesied  — 

"  Wretches,  why  sit  ye  here  ?  Fly,  fly  to  the  ends  of  creation, 
Quitting  your  homes,  and  the  crags  which  your  city  crowns  with  her  circlet. 
Neither  the  head,  nor  the  body  is  firm  in  its  place,  nor  at  bottom 
Firm  the  feet,  nor  the  hands;  nor  resteth  the  middle  uninjur'd. 
All  —  all  ruined  and  lost.    Since  fire,  anc!|  impetuous  Ares, 
Speeding  along  in  a  Syrian  chariot,  hastes  to  destroy  her. 
Not  alone  shalt  thou  suffer ;  full  many  the  towers  he  will  level, 
Many  the  shrines  of  the  gods  he  will  give  to  a  fiery  destruction. 
Even  now  they  stand  with  dark  sweat  horribly  dripping. 
Trembling  and  quaking  for  fear ;  and  lo !  from  the  high  roofs  trickleth 
Black  blood,  sign  prophetic  of  hard  distresses  impending. 
Get  ye  away  from  the  temple ;  and  brood  on  the  ills  that  await  ye !  " 

When  the  Athenian  messengers  heard  this  reply,  they  were 
filled  with  the  deepest  affliction  :  whereupon  Timon,  the  son  of 
Androbulus,  one  of  the  men  of  most  mark  among  the  Delphians, 
seeing  how  utterly  cast  down  they  were  at  the  gloomy  prophecy, 
advised  them  to  take  an  olive-branch,  and  entering  the  sanctuary 
again,  consult  the  oracle  as  suppliants.  The  Athenians  followed 
this  advice,  and  going  in  once  more,  said — "O  king!  we  pray 
thee  reverence  these  boughs  of  supplication  which  we  bear  in  our 
hands,  and  deliver  to  us  something  more  comforting  concerning 
our  country.  Else  we  will  not  leave  thy  sanctuar}',  but  will  stay  here 
till  we  die."  Upon  this  the  priestess  gave  them  a  second  answer, 
which  was  the  following  :  — 

"  Pallas  has  not  been  able  to  soften  the  lord  of  Olympus, 
Though  she  has  often  prayed  him,  and  urged  him  with  excellent  counsel. 
Yet  once  more  I  address  thee  in  words  than  adamant  firmer. 
When  the  foe  shall  have  taken  whatever  the  limit  of  Cecrops 
Holds  within  it,  and  all  which  divine  Cithaeron  shelters. 
Then  far-seeing  Zeus  grants  this  to  the  prayers  of  Athene ; 
Safe  shall  the  wooden  wall  continue  for  thee  and  thy  children. 
Wait  not  the  tramp  of  the  horse,  nor  the  footmen  mightily  moving 
Over  the  land,  but  turn  your  back  to  the  foe,  and  retire  ye. 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  187 

Yet  shall  a  day  arrive  when  ye  shall  meet  him  in  battle. 
Holy  Salamis,  thou  shalt  destroy  the  offspring  of  women, 
When  men  scatter  the  seed,  or  when  they  gather  the  harvest." 

This  answer  seemed,  as  indeed  it  was,  gentler  than  the  former 
one  ;  so  the  envoys  wrote  it  down,  and  went  back  with  it  to  Athens. 
When,  however,  upon  their  arrival,  they  produced  it  before  the 
people,  and  inquiry  began  to  be  made  into  its  true  meaning,  many 
and  various  were,  the  interpretations  which  men  put  on  it ;  two, 
more  especially,  seemed  to  be  directly  opposed  to  one  another. 
Certain  of  the  old  men  were  of  opinion  that  the  god  meant  to  tell 
them  the  citadel  would  escape  ;  for  this  was  anciently  defended  by 
a  palisade  ;  and  they  supposed  that  barrier  to  be  the  "  wooden  wall  " 
of  the  oracle.  Others  maintained  that  the  fleet  was  what  the  god 
pointed  at ;  and  their  advice  was  that  nothing  should  be  thought  of 
except  the  ships,  which  had  best  be  at  once  got  ready.  Still  such 
as  said  the  "  wooden  wall "  meant  the  fleet,  were  perplexed  by  the 
last  two  lines  of  the  oracle  — 

"  Holy  Salamis,  thou  shalt  destroy  the  offspring  of  women, 
When  men  scatter  the  seed,  or  when  they  gather  the  harvest." 

These  words  caused  great  disturbance  among  those  who  took  the 
wooden  wall  to  be  the  ships  ;  since  the  interpreters  understood  them 
to  mean,  that,  if  they  made  preparations  for  a  sea-fight,  they  would 
suffer  a  defeat  off  Salamis. 

Now  there  was  at  Athens  a  man  who  had  lately  made  his  way 
into  the  first  rank  of  citizens  :  his  true  name  was  Themistocles ; 
but  he  was  known  more  generally  as  the  son  of  Neocles.  This  man 
came  forward  and  said,  that  the  interpreters  had  not  explained  the 
oracle  altogether  aright — "for  if,"  he  argued,  "the  clause  in 
question  had  really  respected  the  Athenians,  it  would  not  have 
been  expressed  so  mildly  ;  the  phrase  used  would  have  been  '  Luck- 
less Salamis,'  rather  than  "  Holy  Salamis,'  had  those  to  whom  the 
island  belonged  been  about  to  perish  in  its  neighbourhood.  Rightly 
taken,  the  response  of  the  god  threatened  the  enemy,  much  more 
than  the  Athenians."  He  therefore  counselled  his  country-men  to 
make  ready  to  fight  on  board  their  ships,  since  they  were  the  wooden 
wall  in  which  the  god  told  them  to  trust.    When  Themistocles  had 


1 88  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

thus  cleared  the  matter,  the  Athenians  embraced  his  view,  preferring 
it  to  that  of  the  interpreters.  The  advice  of  these  last  had  been 
against  engaging  in  a  sea-fight ;  "all  the  Athenians  could  do,"  they 
said,  "  was,  without  lifting  a  hand  in  their  defence,  to  quit  Attica, 
and  make  a  settlement  in  some  other  country." 

Themistocles  had  before  this  given,  a  counsel  which  prevailed 
very  seasonably.  The  Athenians,  having  a  large  sum  of  money  in 
their  treasury,  the  produce  of  the  mines  at  Laureium,  were  about 
to  share  it  among  the  full-grown  citizens,  who  would  have  received 
ten  drachmas  apiece,  when  Themistocles  persuaded  them  to  forbear 
the  distribution,  and  build  with  the  money  two  hundred  ships,  to 
help  them  in  their  war  against  the  Eginetans.  It  was  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Eginetan  war  which  was  at  this  time  the  saving  of  Greece ; 
for  hereby  were  the  Athenians  forced  to  become  a  maritime  power. 
The  new  ships  were  not  used  for  the  purpose  for  which  they  had 
been  built,  but  became  a  help  to  Greece  in  her  hour  of  need.  And 
the  Athenians  had  not  only  these  vessels  ready  before  the  war,  but 
they  likewise  set  to  work  to  build  more  ;  while  they  determined,  in  a 
council  which  was  held  after  the  debate  upon  the  oracle,  that, 
according  to  the  advice  of  the  god,  they  would  embark  their  whole 
force  aboard  their  ships,  and,  with  such  Greeks  as  chose  to  join 
them,  give  battle  to  the  barbarian  invader.  Such,  then,  were  the 
oracles  which  had  been  received  by  the  Athenians. 

Plutarch,  Themistocles^  3-4 

Now  the  rest  of  his  countrymen  thought  that  the  defeat  of  the 
Barbarians  at  Marathon  was  the  end  of  the  war  ;  but  Themistocles 
thought  it  to  be  only  the  beginning  of  greater  contests,  and  for 
these  he  anointed  himself,  as  it  were,  to  be  the  champion  of  all 
Hellas,  and -put  his  city  into  training,  because,  while  it  was  yet 
afar  off,  he  expected  the  evil  that  was  to  come. 

And  so,  in  the  first  place,  whereas  the  Athenians  were  wont  to 
divide  up  among  themselves  the  revenue  coming  from  the  silver 
mines  at  Laureium,  he,  and  he  alone,  dared  to  come  before  the 
people  with  a  motion  that  this  division  be  given  up,  and  that  with 
these  moneys  triremes  be  constructed  for  the  war  against  yEgina. 
This  was  the  greatest  war  then  raging  in  Hellas,  and  the  islanders 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  189 

controlled  the  sea,  owing  to  the  number  of  their  ships.  Wherefore 
all  the  more  easily  did  Themistocles  carry  his  point,  not  by  trying 
to  terrify  the  citizens  with  dreadful  pictures  of  Darius  or  the  Per- 
sians, —  these  were  too  far  away  and  inspired  no  very  serious  fear 
of  their  coming,  —  but  by  making  opportune  use  of  the  bitter 
jealousy  which  they  cherished  toward  /Egina  in  order  to  secure 
the  armament  he  desired.  The  result  was  that  with  those  moneys 
they  built  an  hundred  triremes,  which  actually  fought  at  Salamis 
against  Xerxes. 

Aristotle,  Constifution  of  Athens ^yiXW 

And  in  the  third  year  after  this,  during  the  archonship  of 
Nicodemus,  when  the  mines  at  Maronea  were  discovered,  and  the 
state  acquired  a  hundred  talents  from  working  them,  some  coun- 
selled the  people  to  divide  the  money  among  themselves.  But 
Themistokles  would  not  allow  it,  declaring  that  he  would  not  use 
the  money,  and  urged  them  to  advance  it  on  loan  to  the  hundred 
richest  men  among  the  Athenians,  to  each  a  talent,  and  then 
recommended,  if  it  met  their  approval,  that  it  should  be  expended 
in  the  service  of  the  state,  and  if  not,  that  they  should  get  in  the 
money  from  those  who  had  borrowed  it.  Getting  the  money  in  this 
way,  he  had  a  hundred  triremes  built,  each  of  the  hundred  talents 
building  one  ;  and  it  was  with  these  ships  that  they  fought  at 
Salamis  against  the  barbarians. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  there  was  a  good  deal  of  division  of 
opinion  over  the  leadership.  Sparta  had  held  the  commanding 
position  for  so  long  that  even  the  new  fleet  of  Athens  which  made 
her  the  first  naval  power  did  not  secure  for  her  the  undisputed 
command  on  the  sea. 

Thucydides,  I,  18 

Not  many  years  after  the  deposition  of  the  tyrants,  the  battle  of 
Marathon  was  fought  between  the  Medes  and  the  Athenians.  Ten 
years  afterwards  the  barbarians  returned  with  the  armada  for  the 
subjugation  of  Hellas.  In  the  face  of  this  great  danger  the  com- 
mand of  the  confederate  Hellenes  was  assumed  by  the  Lacedae- 
monians in  virtue  of  their  superior  power ;   and  the  Athenians 


I90  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

having  made  up  their  minds  to  abandon  their  city,  broke  up  their 
homes,  threw  themselves  into  their  ships,  and  became  a  naval 
people.  This  coalition,  after  repulsing  the  barbarian,  soon  after- 
wards split  into  two  sections,  which  included  the  Hellenes,  who 
had  revolted  from  the  king,  as  well  as  those  who  had  aided  him  in 
the  war.  At  the  head  of  the  one  stood  Athens,  at  the  head  of  the 
other  Lacedaemon,  one  the  first  naval,  the  other  the  first  military 
power  in  Hellas. 

3.  THERMOPYL/E  AND  ARTEMISIUM 
A  strategic  line,  on  sea  and  land,  extending  between  Artemisium 

and  Thermopylae,  was  seized  by  the  Greeks  and  an  attempt  at 

cooperation  was  made  between  the  two  branches. 

The  vivid  and  picturesque  account  of  Herodotus  describes  one 

of  the  most  famous  occasions  in  history.    The  inscriptions  which 

he  quotes  are  attributed  to  Simonidcs,  who  might  well  be  called 

the  poet  laureate  of  the  war. 

Herodotus,  VII,  175-178 

The  Greeks,  on  their  return  to  the  Isthmus,  took  counsel  to- 
gether concerning  the  words  of  Alexander,  and  considered  where 
they  should  fix  the  war,  and  what  places  they  should  occupy.  The 
opinion  which  prevailed  was,  that  they  should  guard  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae  ;  since  it  was  narrower  than  the  Thessalian  defile, 
and  at  the  same  time  nearer  to  them.  Of  the  pathway,  by  which  the 
Greeks  who  fell  at  Thermopylae  were  intercepted,  they  had  no 
knowledge,  until,  on  their  arrival  at  Thermopylae,  it  was  discovered 
to  them  by  the  Trachinians.  This  pass  then  it  was  determined 
that  they  should  guard,  in  order  to  prevent  the  barbarians  from 
penetrating  into  Greece  through  it ;  and  at  the  same  time  it  was 
resolved  that  the  fleet  should  proceed  to  Artemisium,  in  the  region 
of  Histiaeotis  ;  for,  as  those  places  are  near  to  one  another,  it  would 
be  easy  for  the  fleet  and  army  to  hold  communication.  The  two 
places  may  be  thus  described. 

Artemisium  is  where  the  sea  of  Thrace  contracts  into  a  narrow 
channel,  running  between  the  isle  of  Sciathus  and  the  mainland  of 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  191 

Magnesia.  When  this  narrow  strait  is  passed  you  come  to  the  line 
of  coast  called  Artemisium  ;  which  is  a  portion  of  Euboea,  and 
contains  a  temple  of  Artemis  (Diana).  As  for  the  entrance  into 
Greece  by  Trachis,  it  is,  at  its  narrowest  point,  about  fifty  feet  wide. 
This  however  is  not  the  place  where  the  passage  is  most  contracted ; 
for  it  is  still  narrower  a  little  above  and  a  little  below  Thermopylae. 
At  Alpeni,  which  is  lower  down  than  that  place,  it  is  only  wide 
enough  for  a  single  carriage  ;  and  up  above,  at  the  river  Phoenix, 
near  the  town  called  Anthela,  it  is  the  same.  West  of  Thermopylas 
rises  a  lofty  and  precipitous  hill,  impossible  to  climb,  which  runs 
up  into  the  chain  of  (T^ta  ;  while  to  the  east  the  road  is  shut  in  by 
the  sea  and  by  marshes.  In  this  place  are  the  warm  springs,  which 
the  natives  call  "  The  Cauldrons  ;  "  and  above  them  stands  an  altar 
sacred  to  Hercules.  A  wall  had  once  been  carried  across  the 
opening ;  and  in  this  there  had  of  old  times  been  a  gateway. 
These  works  were  made  by  the  Phocians,  through  fear  of  the 
Thessalians,  at  the  time  when  the  latter  came  from  Thesprotia  to 
establish  themselves  in  the  land  of  yEolis,  which  they  still  occupy. 
As  the  Thessalians  strove  to  reduce  Phocis,  the  Phocians  raised 
the  wall  to  protect  themselves,  and  likewise  turned  the  hot  springs 
upon  the  pass,  that  so  the  ground  might  be  broken  up  by  water- 
courses, using  thus  all  possible  means  to  hinder  the  Thessalians 
from  invading  their  country.  The  old  wall  had  been  built  in  very 
remote  times  ;  and  the  greater  part  of  it  had  gone  to  decay  through 
age.  Now  however  the  Greeks  resolved  to  repair  its  breaches,  and 
here  make  their  stand  against  the  barbarians.  At  this  point  there 
is  a  village  very  nigh  the  road,  Alpeni  by  name,  from  which  the 
Greeks  reckoned  on  getting  corn  for  their  troops. 

These  places,  therefore,  seemed  to  the  Greeks  fit  for  their  pur- 
pose. Weighing  well  all  that  was  likely  to  happen,  and  considering 
that  in  this  region  the  barbarians  could  make  no  use  of  their  vast 
numbers,  nor  of  their  cavalry,  they  resolved  to  await  here  the  in- 
vader of  Greece.  And  when  news  reached  them  of  the  Persians 
being  in  Pieria,  straightway  they  broke  up  from  the  Isthmus, 
and  proceeded,  some  on  foot  to  Thermopylae,  others  by  sea  to 
Artemisium. 

The  Greeks  now  made  all  speed  to  reach  the  two  stations. 


192  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Herodotus,  VII,  201-207 

King  Xerxes  pitched  his  camp  in  the  region  of  MaHs  called 
Trachinia,  while  on  their  side  the  Greeks  occupied  the  straits. 
These  straits  the  Greeks  in  general  called  Thermopylae  (the  Hot 
Gates)  ;  but  the  natives,  and  those  who  dwell  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, call  them  Pylae  (the  Gates).  Here  then  the  two  armies  took 
their  stand  ;  the  one  master  of  all  the  region  lying  north  of  Trachis, 
the  other  of  the  country  extending  southward  of  that  place  to  the 
verge  of  the  continent. 

The  Greeks  who  at  this  spot  awaited  the  coming  of  Xerxes  were 
the  following  :  —  From  Sparta,  three  hundred  m'en-at-arms  :  from 
Arcadia,  a  thousand  Tegeans  and  Mantineans,  five  hundred  of  each 
people  ;  a  hundred  and  twenty  Orchomenians,  from  the  Arcadian 
Orchomenus  ;  and  a  thousand  from  other  cities  :  from  Corinth, 
four  hundred  men  :  from  Phlius,  two  hundred  :  and  from  Mycenae, 
eighty.  Such  was  the  number  from  the  Peloponnese.  There  were 
also  present,  from  Bceotia,  seven  hundred  Thespians  and  four 
hundred  Thebans. 

Besides  these  troops,  the  Locrians  of  Opus  and  the  Phocians 
had  obeyed  the  call  of  their  countrymen,  and  sent,  the  former  all 
the  force  they  had,  the  latter  a  thousand  men.  .   .   . 

The  various  nations  had  each  captains  of  their  own  under  whom 
they  served  ;  but  the  one  to  whom  all  especially  looked  up,  and 
who  had  the  command  of  the  entire  force,  was  the  Lacedaemonian, 
Leonidas.   .   .  . 

He  had  now  come  to  Thermopylae,  accompanied  by  the  three 
hundred  men  which  the  law  assigned  him,  whom  he  had  himself 
chosen  from  among  the  citizens,  and  who  were  all  of  them  fathers 
with  sons  living.  On  his  way  he  had  taken  the  troops  from  Thebes, 
whose  number  I  have  already  mentioned,  and  who  were  under  the 
command  of  Leontiades  the  son  of  Eurymachus.  The  reason  why  he 
made  a  point  of  taking  troops  from  Thebes,  and  Thebes  only,  was, 
that  the  Thebans  were  strongly  suspected  of  being  well  inclined  to 
the  Medes.  Leonidas  therefore  called  on  them  to  come  with  him  to 
the  war,  wishing  to  see  whether  they  would  comply  with  his  demand, 
or  openly  refuse,  and  disclaim  the  Greek  alliance.  They,  however, 
though  their  wishes  leant  the  other  way,  nevertheless  sent  the  men. 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  193 

The  force  with  Leonidas  was  sent  forward  by  the  Spartans  in 
advance  of  their  main  body,  that  the  sight  of  them  might  encourage 
the  alHes  to  fight,  and  hinder  them  from  going  over  to  the  Medes, 
as  it  was  hkely  they  might  have  done  had  they  seen  that  Sparta 
was  backward.  They  intended  presently,  when  they  had  celebrated 
the  Carneian  festival,  which  was  what  now  kept  them  at  home,  to 
leave  a  garrison  in  Sparta,  and  hasten  in  full  force  to  join  the  army. 
The  rest  of  the  allies  also  intended  to  act  similarly;  for  it  happened 
that  the  Olympic  festival  fell  exactly  at  this  same  period.  None  of 
them  looked  to  see  the  contest  at  Thermopylae  decided  so  speedily ; 
wherefore  they  were  content  to  send  forward  a  mere  advance 
guard.    Such  accordingly  were  the  intentions  of  the  allies. 

The  Greek  forces  at  Thermopylae,  when  the  Persian  army  drew 
near  to  the  entrance  of  the  pass,  were  seized  with  fear ;  and  a  coun- 
cil was  held  to  consider  about  a  retreat.  It  was  the  wish  of  the 
Peloponnesians  generally  that  the  army  should  fall  back  upon  the 
Peloponnese,  and  there  guard  the  Isthmus.  But  Leonidas,  who 
saw  with  what  indignation  the  Phocians  and  Locrians  heard  of 
this  plan,  gave  his  voice  for  remaining  where  they  were,  while  they 
sent  envoys  to  the  several  cities  to  ask  for  help,  since  they  were 
too  few  to  make  a  stand  against  an  army  like  that  of  the  Medes. 

Herodotus,  VII,  219-228 

The  Greeks  at  Thermopylae  received  the  first  warning  of  the 
destruction  which  the  dawn  would  bring  on  them  from  the  seer 
Megistias,  who  read  their  fate  in  the  victims  as  he  was  sacrificing. 
After  this  deserters  came  in,  and  brought  the  news  that  the  Per- 
sians were  marching  round  by  the  hills  :  it  was  still  night  when 
these  men  arrived.  Last  of  all,  the  scouts  came  running  down  from 
the  heights,  and  brought  in  the  same  accounts,  when  the  day  was 
just  beginning  to  break.  Then  the  Greeks  held  a  council  to  con- 
sider what  they  should  do,  and  here  opinions  were  divided  :  some 
were  strong  against  quitting  their  post,  while  others  contended  to 
the  contrary.  So  when  the  council  had  broken  up,  part  of  the  troops 
departed  and  went  their  ways  homeward  to  their  several  states ; 
part  however  resolved  to  remain,  and  to  stand  by  Leonidas  to 
the  last. 


i94  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

It  is  said  that  Leonidas  himself  sent  away  the  troops  who  de- 
parted, because  he  tendered  their  safety,  but  thought  it  unseemly 
that  either  he  or  his  Spartans  should  quit  the  post  which  they  had 
been  especially  sent  to  guard.  For  my  own  part,  I  incline  to  think 
that  Leonidas  gave  the  order,  because  he  perceived  the  allies  to  be 
out  of  heart  and  unwilling  to  encounter  the  danger  to  which  his 
own  mind  was  made  up.  He  therefore  commanded  them  to  retreat, 
but  said  that  he  himself  could  not  draw  back  with  honour ;  know- 
ing that,  if  he  stayed,  glory  awaited  him,  and  that  Sparta  in  that 
case  would  not  lose  her  prosperity.  For  when  the  Spartans,  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  war,  sent  to  consult  the  oracle  concerning 
it,  the  answer  which  they  received  from  the  Pythoness  was,  "  that 
either  Sparta  must  be  overthrown  by  the  barbarians,  or  one  of  her 
kings  must  perish."  The  prophecy  was  delivered  in  hexameter 
verse,  and  ran  thus  :  — 

"  O  ye  men  who  dwell  in  the  streets  of  broad  Lacedaemon  ! 
Either  your  glorious  town  shall  be  sacked  by  the  children  of  Perseus, 
Or,  in  exchange,  must  all  through  the  whole  Laconian  country 
Mourn  for  the  loss  of  a  king,  descendant  of  great  Heracles. 
He  cannot  be  withstood  by  the  courage  of  bulls  nor  of  lions, 
Strive  as  they  may ;  he  is  mighty  as  Zeus ;  there  is  nought  that  shall  stay  him, 
Till  he  have  got  for  his  prey  your  king,  or  your  glorious  city." 

The  remembrance  of  this  answer,  I  think,  and  the  wish  to  secure 
the  whole  glory  for  the  Spartans,  caused  Leonidas  to  send  the 
allies  away.  This  is  more  likely  than  that  they  quarrelled  with 
him,  and  took  their  departure  in  such  unruly  fashion. 

To  me  it  seems  no  small  argument  in  favour  of  this  view,  that 
the  seer  also  who  accompanied  the  army,  Megistias,  the  Acarna- 
nian,  —  said  to  have  been  of  the  blood  of  Melampus,  and  the  same 
who  was  led  by  the  appearance  of  the  victims  to  warn  the  Greeks 
of  the  danger  which  threatened  them,  —  received  orders  to  retire 
(as  it  is  certain  he  did)  from  Leonidas,  that  he  might  escape  the 
coming  destruction.  Megistias,  however,  though  bidden  to  depart, 
refused,  and  stayed  with  the  army;  but  he  had  an  only  son  present 
with  the  expedition,  whom  he  now  sent  away. 

So  the  allies,  when  Leonidas  ordered  them  to  retire,  obeyed  him 
and  forthwith  departed.     Only  the  Thespians  and  the  Thebans 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  195 

remained  with  the  Spartans  ;  and  of  these  the  Thebans  were  kept 
back  by  Leonidas  as  hostages,  very  much  against  their  will.  The 
Thespians,  on  the  contrary,  stayed  entirely  of  their  own  accord, 
refusing  to  retreat,  and  declaring  that  they  would  not  forsake 
Leonidas  and  his  followers.  So  they  abode  with  the  Spartans, 
and  died  with  them.  Their  leader  was  Demophilus,  the  son  of 
Diadromes. 

At  sunrise  Xerxes  made  libations,  after  which  he  waited  until 
the  time  when  the  forum  is  wont  to  fill,  and  then  began  his  ad- 
vance. Ephialtes  had  instructed  him  thus,  as  the  descent  of  the 
mountain  is  much  quicker,  and  the  distance  much  shorter,  than 
the  way  round  the  hills,  and  the  ascent.  So  the  barbarians  under 
Xerxes  began  to  draw  nigh  ;  and  the  Greeks  under  Leonidas,  as 
they  now  went  forth  determined  to  die,  advanced  much  further 
than  on  previous  days,  until  they  reached  the  more  open  portion 
of  the  pass.  Hitherto  they  had  held  their  station  within  the  wall, 
and  from  this  had  gone  forth  to  fight  at  the  point  where  the  pass 
was  the  narrowest.  Now  they  joined  battle  beyond  the  defile,  and 
carried  slaughter  among  the  barbarians,  who  fell  in  heaps.  Behind 
them  the  captains  of  the  squadrons,  armed  with  whips,  urged  their 
men  forward  with  continual  blows.  Many  were  thrust  into  the  sea, 
and  there  perished  ;  a  still  greater  number  were  trampled  to  death 
by  their  own  soldiers  ;  no  one  heeded  the  dying.  For  the  Greeks, 
reckless  of  their  own  safety  and  desperate,  since  they  knew  that, 
as  the  mountain  had  been  crossed,  their  destruction  was  nigh  at 
hand,  exerted  themselves  with  the  most  furious  valour  against 
the  barbarians. 

By  this  time  the  spears  of  the  greater  number  were  all  shivered, 
and  with  their  swords  they  hewed  down  the  ranks  of  the  Persians  ; 
and  here,  as  they  strove,  Leonidas  fell  fighting  bravely,  together 
with  many  other  famous  Spartans,  whose  names  I  have  taken  care 
to  learn  on  account  of  their  great  worthiness,  as  indeed  I  have  those 
of  all  the  three  hundred.  There  fell  too  at  the  same  time  very 
many  famous  Persians  :  among  them,  two  sons  of  Darius,  Abroc- 
omes  and  Hyperanthes,  his  children  by  Phratagune,  the  daughter 
of  Artanes.  Artanes  was  brother  of  King  Darius,  being  a  son  of 
Hystaspes,  the  son  of  Arsames  ;  and  when  he  gave  his  daughter 


196  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

to  the  king,  he  made  him  heir  hkewise  of  all  his  substance  ;  for 
she  was  his  only  child. 

Thus  two  brothers  of  Xerxes  here  fought  and  fell.  And  now 
there  arose  a  fierce  struggle  between  the  Persians  and  the  Lacedae- 
monians over  the  body  of  Leonidas,  in  which  the  Greeks  four  times 
drove  back  the  enemy,  and  at  last  by  their  great  bravery  succeeded 
in  bearing  off  the  body.  This  combat  was  scarcely  ended  when  the 
Persians  with  Ephialtes  approached  ;  and  the  Greeks,  informed 
that  they  drew  nigh,  made  a  change  in  the  manner  of  their  fight- 
ing. Drawing  back  into  the  narrowest  part  of  the  pass,  and  re- 
treating even  behind  the  cross  wall,  they  posted  themselves  upon 
a  hillock,  where  they  stood  all  drawn  up  together  in  one  close  body, 
except  only  the  Thebans.  The  hillock  whereof  I  speak  is  at  the 
entrance  of  the  straits,  where  the  stone  lion  stands  which  was  set  up 
in  honour  of  Leonidas.  Here  they  defended  themselves  to  the  last, 
such  as  still  had  swords  using  them,  and  the  others  resisting  with 
their  hands  and  teeth  ;  till  the  barbarians,  who  in  part  had  pulled 
down  the  wall  and  attacked  them  in  front,  in  part  had  gone  round 
and  now  encircled  them  upon  every  side,  overwhelmed  and  buried 
the  remnant  which  was  left  beneath  showers  of  missile  weapons. 

Thus  nobly  did  the  whole  body  of  Lacedaemonians  and  Thespians 
behave.   .   .  . 

The  slain  were  buried  where  they  fell ;  and  in  their  honour,  nor 
less  in  honour  of  those  who  died  before  Leonidas  sent  the  allies 
away,  an  inscription  was  set  up,  which  said  :  — 

Here  did  four  thousand  men  from  Pelops'  land 
Against  three  hundred  myriads  bravely  stand. 

This  was  in  honour  of  all.   Another  was  for  the  Spartans  alone:  — 

Go,  stranger,  and  to  Lacedaemon  tell 
That  here,  obeying  her  behests,  we  fell. 

This  was  for  the  Lacedaemonians.   The  seer  had  the  following  :  — 

The  great  Megistias'  tomb  you  here  may  view, 

Whom  slew  the  Medes,  fresh  from  Spercheius'  fords. 

Well  the  wise  seer  the  coming  death  foreknew, 
Yet  scorned  he  to  forsake  his  Spartan  lords. 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  197 

These  inscriptions,  and  the  pillars  likewise,  were  all  set  up  by  the 
Amphictyons,  except  that  in  honour  of  Megistias,  which  was  in- 
scribed to  him  (on  account  of  their  sworn  friendship)  by  Simonides, 
the  son  of  Leoprepes. 

These  few  lines  mention  two  very  essential  characteristics  of 
Themistocles's  policy  —  the  imaginative  foresight  and  the  prac- 
tical way  of  facing  a  situation  at  the  expense  of  all  personal 
considerations.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  persuade  any  Greek  city 
to  surrender  the  command  to  another. 

Plutarch,  Themistoclcs,  7 

Having  taken  upon  himself  the  command  of  the  Athenian 
forces,  he  immediately  endeavoured  to  persuade  the  citizens  to 
leave  the  city,  and  to  embark  upon  their  galleys,  and  meet  with 
the  Persians  at  a  great  distance  from  Greece  ;  but  many  being 
against  this,  he  led  a  large  force,  together  with  the  Lacedaemon- 
ians, into  Tempe,  that  in  this  pass  they  might  maintain  the  safety 
of  Thessaly,  which  had  not  as  yet  declared  for  the  king ;  but  when 
they  returned  without  performing  anything,  and  it  was  known  that 
not  only  the  Thessalians,  but  all  as  far  as  Boeotia,  was  going  over 
to  Xerxes,  then  the  Athenians  more  willingly  hearkened  to  the 
advice  of  Themistocles  to  fight  by  sea,  and  sent  him  with  a  fleet 
to  guard  the  straits  of  Artemisium. 

When  the  contingents  met  here,  the  Greeks  would  have  the 
Lacedaemonians  to  command,  and  Eurybiades  to  be  their  admiral ; 
but  the  Athenians,  who  surpassed  all  the  rest  together  in  number 
of  vessels,  would  not  submit  to  come  after  any  other,  till  Themis- 
tocles, perceiving  the  danger  of  the  contest,  yielded  his  own  com- 
mand to  Euiybiades,  and  got  the  Athenians  to  submit,  extenuating 
the  loss  by  persuading  them,  that  if  in  this  war  they  behaved 
themselves  like  men,  he  would  answer  for  it  after  that,  that  the 
Greeks,  of  their  own  will,  would  submit  to  their  command.  And 
by  this  moderation  of  his,  it  is  evident  that  he  was  the  chief  means 
of  the  deliverance  of  Greece,  and  gained  the  Athenians  the  glory 
of  alike  surpassing  their  enemies  in  valour,  and  their  confederates 
in  wisdom. 


198  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Herodotus,  VIII,  16-19 

And  now  the  fleet  of  Xerxes  advanced  in  good  order  to  the 
attack,  while  the  Greeks  on  their  side  remained  quite  motionless 
at  Artemisium.  The  Persians  therefore  spread  themselves,  and 
came  forward  in  a  half-moon,  seeking  to  encircle  the  Greeks  on 
all  sides,  and  thereby  prevent  them  from  escaping.  The  Greeks, 
when  they  saw  this,  sailed  out  to  meet  their  assailants ;  and  the 
battle  forthwith  began.  In  this  engagement  the  two  fleets  contended 
with  no  clear  advantage  to  either,  —  for  the  armament  of  Xerxes 
injured  itself  by  its  own  greatness,  the  vessels  falling  into  disorder, 
and  oft-times  running  foul  of  one  another ;  yet  still  they  did  not 
give  way,  but  made  a  stout  fight,  since  the  crews  felt  it  would  in- 
deed be  a  disgrace  to  turn  and  fly  from  a  fleet  so  inferior  in  num- 
ber. The  Greeks  therefore  suffered  much,  both  in  ships  and  men  ; 
but  the  barbarians  experienced  a  far  larger  loss  of  each.  So  the 
fleets  separated  after  such  a  combat  as  I  have  described. 

On  the  side  of  Xerxes  the  Egyptians  distinguished  themselves 
above  all  the  combatants ;  for  besides  performing  many  other 
noble  deeds,  they  took  five  vessels  from  the  Greeks  with  their 
crews  on  board.  On  the  side  of  the  Greeks  the  Athenians  bore 
off  the  meed  of  valour ;  and  among  them  the  most  distinguished 
was  Clinias,  the  son  of  Alcibiades,  who  served  at  his  own  charge 
with  two  hundred  men,  on  board  a  vessel  which  he  had  himself 
furnished. 

The  two  fleets,  on  separating,  hastened  very  gladly  to  their 
anchorage-grounds.  The  Greeks,  indeed,  when  the  battle  was 
over,  became  masters  of  the  bodies  of  the  slain  and  the  wrecks  of 
the  vessels ;  but  they  had  been  so  roughly  handled,  especially  the 
Athenians,  one-half  of  whose  vessels  had  suffered  damage,  that 
they  determined  to  break  up  from  their  station,  and  withdraw  to 
the  inner  parts  of  their  country. 

Then  Themistocles,  who  thought  that  if  the  Ionian  and  Carian 
ships  could  be  detached  from  the  barbarian  fleet,  the  Greeks  might 
be  well  able  to  defeat  the  rest,  called  the  captains  together.  They 
met  upon  the  sea-shore,  where  the  Euboeans  were  now  assembling 
their  flocks  and  herds  ;  and  here  Themistocles  told  them  he  thought 
that  he  knew  of  a  plan  whereby  he  could  detach  from  the  king 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  199 

those  who  were  of  most  worth  among  his  alHes.    This  was  all  that 
he  disclosed  to  them  of  his  plan  at  that  time. 

Herodotus,  VIII,  22,  40-41 

And  now  Themistocles  chose  out  the  swiftest  sailers  from  among 
the  Athenian  vessels,  and,  proceeding  to  the  various  watering- 
places  along  the  coast,  cut  inscriptions  on  the  rocks,  which  were 
read  by  the  lonians  the  day  following,  on  their  arrival  at  Artemis- 
ium.  The  inscriptions  ran  thus:  —  "Men  of  Ionia,  ye  do  wrong 
to  fight  against  your  own  fathers,  and  to  give  your  help  to  enslave 
Greece.  We  beseech  you  therefore  to  come  over,  if  possible,  to 
our  side:  if  you  cannot" do  this,  then,  we  pray  you,  stand  aloof 
from  the  contest  yourselves,  and  persuade  the  Carians  to  do  the 
like.  If  neither  of  these  things  be  possible,  and  you  are  hindered, 
by  a  force  too  strong  to  resist,  from  venturing  upon  desertion,  at 
least  when  we  come  to  blows  fight  backwardly,  remembering  that 
you  are  sprung  from  us,  and  that  it  was  through  you  we  first  pro- 
voked the  hatred  of  the  barbarian."  Themistocles,  in  putting  up 
these  inscriptions,  looked,  I  believe,  to  two  chances  —  either 
Xerxes  would  not  discover  them,  in  which  case  they  might  bring 
over  the  lonians  to  the  side  of  the  Greeks  ;  or  they  would  be  re- 
ported to  him  and  made  a  ground  of  accusation  against  the  lonians, 
who  would  thereupon  be  distrusted,  and  would  not  be  allowed  to 
take  part  in  the  sea-fights.   .  .  . 

Meanwhile,  the  Grecian  fleet,  which  had  left  Artemisium,  pro- 
ceeded to  Salamis,  at  the  request  of  the  Athenians,  and  there  cast 
anchor.  The  Athenians  had  begged  them  to  take  up  this  position, 
in  order  that  they  might  convey  their  women  and  children  out  of 
Attica,  and  further  might  deliberate  upon  the  course  which  it  now 
behoved  them  to  follow.  Disappointed  in  the  hopes  which  they 
had  previously  entertained,  they  were  about  to  hold  a  council  con- 
cerning the  present  posture  of  their  affairs.  For  they  had  looked 
to  see  the  Peloponnesians  drawn  up  in  full  force  to  resist  the 
enemy  in  Boeotia,  but  found  nothing  of  what  they  had  expected  ; 
nay,  they  learnt  that  the  Greeks  of  those  parts,  only  concerning 
themselves  about  their  own  safety,  were  building  a  wall  across  the 
Isthmus,  and  intended  to  guard  the  Peloponnese,  and  let  the  rest 


200  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

of  Greece  take  its  chance.  These  tidings  caused  them  to  make 
the  request  \Ahereof  I  spoke,  that  the  combined  fleet  should  anchor 
at  Salamis. 

So  while  the  rest  of  the  fleet  lay  to  off  this  island,  the  Athenians 
cast  anchor  along  their  own  coast.  Immediately  upon  their  arrival, 
proclamation  was  made,  that  every  Athenian  should  save  his  chil- 
dren and  household  as  he  best  could  ;  whereupon  some  sent  their 
families  to  Egina,  some  to  Salamis,  but  the  greater  number  to 
Trcezen.  This  removal  was  made  with  all  possible  haste,  partly 
from  a  desire  to  obey  the  advice  of  the  oracle,  but  still  more  for 
another  reason.  The  Athenians  say  that  they  have  in  their  Acrop- 
olis a  huge  serpent,  which  lives  in  the  temple,  and  is  the  guardian 
of  the  whole  place.  Nor  do  they  only  say  this,  but,  as  if  the  ser- 
pent really  dwelt  there,  every  month  they  lay  out  its  food,  which 
consists  of  a  honey-cake.  Up  to  this  time  the  honey-cake  had  always 
been  consumed  ;  but  now  it  remained  untouched.  So  the  priestess 
told  the  people  what  had  happened ;  whereupon  they  left  Athens 
the  more  readily,  since  they  believed  that  the  goddess  had  already 
abandoned  the  citadel.  As  soon  as  all  was  removed,  the  Athenians 
sailed  back  to  their  station. 

PisUTARCH,  T/iemisfocIes,  8-9 

Though  the  fights  between  the  Greeks  and  Persians  in  the 
straits  of  Euboea  were  not  so  important  as  to  make  any  final  decision 
of  the  war,  yet  the  experience  which  the  Greeks  obtained  in  them 
was  of  great  advantage  ;  for  thus,  by  actual  trial  and  in  real  danger, 
they  found  out  that  neither  number  of  ships,  nor  riches  and  orna- 
ments, nor  boasting  shouts,  nor  barbarous  songs  of  victory,  were 
any  way  terrible  to  men  that  knew  how  to  fight,  and  were  resolved 
to  come  hand  to  hand  with  their  enemies  ;  these  things  they  were 
to  despise,  and  to  come  up  close  and  grapple  with  their  foes.  This 
Pindar  appears  to  have  seen,  and  says  justly  enough  of  the  fight 
at  Artemisium,  that  — 

There  the  sons  of  Athens  set 

The  stone  that  freedom  stands  on  yet. 

For  the  first  step  towards  victory  undoubtedly  is  to  gain  courage. 
Artemisium  is  in  Euboea,  beyond  the  city  of  Histiaea,  a  sea-beach 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  20I 

open  to  the  north  ;  most  nearly  opposite  to  it  stands  Ohzon,  in  the 
country  which  formally  was  under  Philoctetes  ;  there  is  a  small  tem- 
ple there,  dedicated  to  Artemis,  surnamed  of  the  Dawn,  and  trees 
about  it,  around  which  again  stand  pillars  of  white  marble ;  and  if  you 
rub  them  with  your  hand,  they  send  forth  both  the  smell  and  colour 
of  saffron.    On  one  of  these  pillars  these  verses  are  engraved  :- — 

With  numerous  tribes  from  Asia's  region  brought 
The  sons  of  Athens  on  tliese  waters  fought ; 
Erecting,  after  they  had  quelled  the  Mede, 
To  Artemis  this  record  of  the  deed. 

There  is  a  place  still  to  be  seen  upon  this  shore,  where,  in  the 
middle  of  a  great  heap  of  sand,  they  take  out  from  the  bottom  a 
dark  powder  like  ashes,  or  something  that  has  passed  the  fire ; 
and  here,  it  is  supposed,  the  shipwrecks  and  bodies  of  the  dead 
were  burnt. 

But  when  news  came  from  Thermopylae  to  Artemisium  inform- 
ing them  that  king  Leonidas  was  slain,  and  that  Xerxes  had  made 
himself  master  of  all  the  passages  by  land,  they  returned  back  to 
the  interior  of  Greece,  the  Athenians  having  the  command  of  the 
rear,  the  place  of  honour  and  danger,  and  much  elated  by  what 
had  been  done. 

As  Themistocles  sailed  along  the  coasts,  he  took  notice  of  the 
harbours  and  fit  places  for  the  enemy's  ships  to  come  to  land  at, 
and  engraved  large  letters  in  such  stones  as  he  found  there  by 
chance,  as  also  in  others  which  he  set  up  on  purpose  near  to  the 
landing-places,  or  where  they  were  to  water ;  in  which  inscriptions 
he  called  upon  the  lonians  to  forsake  the  Medes,  if  it  were  possi- 
ble, and  to  come  over  to  the  Greeks,  who  were  their  proper  found- 
ers and  fathers,  and  were  now  hazarding  all  for  their  liberties  ; 
but,  if  this  could  not  be  done,  at  any  rate  to  impede  and  disturb 
the  Persians  in  all  engagements.  He  hoped  that  these  writings 
would  prevail  with  the  lonians  to  revolt,  or  raise  some  trouble  by 
making  their  fidelity  doubtful  to  the  Persians. 

Now,  though  Xerxes  had  already  passed  through  Doris  and  in- 
vaded the  country  of  Phocis,  and  was  burning  and  destroying  the 
cities  of  the  Phocians,  yet  the  Greeks  sent  them  no  relief ;  and, 


202  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

though  the  Athenians  earnestly  desired  them  to  meet  the  Persians 
in  Boeotia,  before  they  could  come  into  Attica,  as  they  themselves 
had  come  forward  by  sea  at  Artemisium,  they  gave  no  ear  to  their 
requests,  being  wholly  intent  upon  Peloponnesus,  and  resolved  to 
gather  all  their  forces  together  within  the  Isthmus,  and  to  build  a 
wall  from  sea  to  sea  in  that  narrow  neck  of  land  ;  so  that  the 
Athenians  were  enraged  to  see  themselves  betrayed,  and  at  the 
same  time  afflicted  and  dejected  at  their  own  destitution.  P'or  to 
fight  alone  against  such  a  numerous  army  was  to  no  purpose,  and 
the  only  expedient  now  left  them  was  to  leave  their  city  and  cling 
to  their  ships  ;  which  the  people  were  very  unwilling  to  submit  to, 
imagining  that  it  would  signify  little  now  to  gain  a  victory,  and  not 
understanding  how  there  could  be  deliverance  any  longer  after  they 
had  once  forsaken  the  temples  of  their  gods  and  exposed  the  tombs 
and  monuments  of  their  ancestors  to  the  fury  of  their  enemies. 


4.  CAPTURE  OF  THE  ACROPOLIS 

The  Athenians  had  remained  in  their  homes  till  the  last  possible 
moment  and  then  fled  in  despair  to  neighboring  spots  until  return 
was  safe. 

It  took  a  long  time  to  repair  the  terrible  havoc  wrought  by  the 
Persians  on  the  Acropolis.  Most  of  the  buildings  were  razed  to 
the  ground,  the  statues  of  the  gods  were  overturned  and  shattered, 
only  to  be  reverently  laid  to  rest  when  the  Athenians  returned  and 
the  great  work  of  restoration  and  rebuilding  on  a  far  larger  and 
finer  scale  began. 

Herodotus,  VIII,  50-53 

As  the  captains  from  the  Peloponnese  were  thus  advising,  there 
came  an  Athenian  to  the  camp,  who  brought  word  that  the  barba- 
rians had  entered  Attica,  and  were  ravaging  and  burning  every- 
thing. For  the  division  of  the  army  under  Xerxes  was  just  arrived 
at  Athens  from  its  march  through  Boeotia,  where  it  had  burnt 
Thespise  and  Plataea  —  both  which  cities  were  forsaken  by  their  in- 
habitants, who  had  fled  to  the  Peloponnese — and  now  it  was  laying 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  203 

waste  all  the  possessions  of  the  Athenians,  Thespiae  and  Plataea  had 
been  burnt  by  the  Persians,  because  they  knew  from  the  Thebans 
that  neither  of  those  cities  had  espoused  their  side.   .   .  . 

They  found  the  city  forsaken  ;  a  few  people  only  remained  in 
the  temple,  either  keepers  of  the  treasures,  or  men  of  the  poorer 
sort.  These  persons  having  fortified  the  citadel  with  planks  and 
boards,  held  out  against  the  enemy.  It  was  in  some  measure  their 
poverty  which  had  prevented  them  from  seeking  shelter  in  Salamis  ; 
but  there  was  likewise  another  reason  which  in  part  induced  them 
to  remain.  They  imagined  themselves  to  have  discovered  the  true 
meaning  of  the  oracle  uttered  by  the  Pythoness,  which  promised 
that  "the  wooden  wall"  should  never  be  taken  —  the  wooden 
wall,  they  thought,  did  not  mean  the  ships,  but  the  place  where 
they  had  taken  refuge. 

The  Persians  encamped  upon  the  hill  over  against  the  citadel, 
which  is  called  Mars'  hill  by  the  Athenians,  and  began  the  siege 
of  the  place,  attacking  the  Greeks  with  arrows  whereto  pieces  of 
lighted  tow  were  attached,  which  they  shot  at  the  barricade.  And 
now  those  who  were  within  the  citadel  found  themselves  in  a  most 
woeful  case ;  for  their  wooden  rampart  betrayed  them  ;  still,  how- 
ever, they  continued  to  resist.  It  was  in  vain  -that  the  Pisistratidae 
came  to  them  and  offered  terms  of  surrender  —  they  stoutly  refused 
all  parley,  and  among  their  other  modes  of  defence,  rolled  down 
huge  masses  of  stone  upon  the  barbarians  as  they  were  mounting 
up  to  the  gates  :  so  that  Xerxes  was  for  a  long  time  very  greatly 
perplexed,  and  could  not  contrive  any  way  to  take  them. 

At  last,  however,  in  the  midst  of  these  many  difficulties,  the 
barbarians  made  discovery  of  an  access.  For  verily  the  oracle 
had  spoken  truth  ;  and  it  was  fated  that  the  whole  mainland  of 
Attica  should  fall  beneath  the  sway  of  the  Persians.  Right  in  front 
of  the  citadel,  but  behind  the  gates  and  the  common  ascent  — 
where  no  watch  was  kept,  and  no  one  would  have  thought  it  pos- 
sible that  any  foot  of  man  could  climb  —  a  few  soldiers  mounted 
from  the  sanctuary  of  Aglaurus,  Cecrops'  daughter,  notwithstanding 
the  steepness  of  the  precipice.  As  soon  as  the  Athenians  saw  them 
upon  the  summit,  some  threw  themselves  headlong  from  the  wall, 
and  so  perished  ;  while  others  fled  for  refuge  to  the  inner  part  of 


204  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

the  temple.  The  Persians  rushed  to  the  gates  and  opened  them, 
after  which  they  massacred  the  supphants.  When  all  were  slain, 
they  plundered  the  temple,  and  fired  every  part  of  the  citadel. 

5.  SALAMIS;    PRErARATIONS 

Before  the  battle  of  Salamis  there  was  much  discussion  over  the 
policy  to  be  adopted.  Some  favored  leaving  the  Athenians  in  the 
lurch  and  withdrawing  to  the  Peloponnesus  ;  others  advocated  delay- 
ing as  much  as  possible.  Themistocles,  however,  realized  that  the 
best  chance  for  the  Greeks  lay  in  taking  advantage  of  the  situation 
in  which  they  found  themselves  —  in  the  narrow  straits,  where  the 
small  number  of  the  Greek  ships  would  be  at  the  least  disadvan- 
tage and  where  the  swift,  light  vessels  could  outmaneuver  the 
heavier  craft  of  the  enemy.  To  accomplish  this  Themistocles 
resorted  to  stratagem,  and  also  played  a  generous  part  in  disregard- 
ing certain  personal  differences  between  himself  and  Aristides. 
The  result  bore  out  the  wisdom  and  saneness  of  his  judgment. 

Herodotus,  VIII,  63-64,  66 

At  these  words  of  Themistocles,  Eurybiades  changed  his  deter- 
mination ;  principally,  as  I  believe,  because  he  feared  that  if  he 
withdrew  the  fleet  to  the  Isthmus,  the  Athenians  would  sail  away, 
and  knew  that  without  the  Athenians,  the  rest  of  their  ships  could 
be  no  match  for  the  fleet  of  the  enemy.  He  therefore  decided  to 
remain,  and  give  battle  at  Salamis, 

And  now,  the  different  chiefs,  notwithstanding  their  skirmish  of 
words,  on  learning  the  decision  of  Eurybiades,  at  once  made  ready 
for  the  fight.  Morning  broke  ;  and,  just  as  the  sun  rose,  the  shock 
of  an  earthquake  was  felt  both  on  shore  and  at  sea  :  whereupon 
the  Greeks  resolved  to  approach  the  gods  with  prayer,  and  like- 
wise to  send  and  invite  the  ^acids  to  their  aid.  And  this  they 
did,  with  as  much  speed  as  they  had  resolved  on  it.  Prayers  were 
offered  to  all  the  gods  ;  and  Telamon  and  Ajax  were  invoked  at 
once  from  Salamis,  while  a  ship  was  sent  to  Egina  to  fetch  yEacus 
himself,  and  the  other  /Eacids.  .  .  . 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  205 

The  men  belonging  to  the  fleet  of  Xerxes,  after  they  had  seen 
the  Spartan  dead  at  Thermopylae,  and  crossed  the  channel  from 
Trachis  to  Histiaea,  waited  there  by  the  space  of  three  days,  and 
then  sailing  down  through  the  Euripus,  in  three  more  came  to 
Phalerum.  In  my  judgment,  the  Persian  forces  both  by  land  and 
sea  when  they  invaded  Attica  were  not  less  numerous  than  they 
had  been  on  their  arrival  at  Sepias  and  Thermopylae.  For  against 
the  Persian  loss  in  the  storm  and  at  Thermopylae,  and  again  in  the 
sea-fights  off  Artemisium,  I  set  the  various  nations  which  had  since 
joined  the  king  —  as  the  Malians,  the  Dorians,  the  Locrians,  and 
the  Boeotians  —  each  serving  in  full  force  in  his  army  except  the 
last,  who  did  not  number  in  their  ranks  either  the  Thespians  or  the 
Plataeans  ;  and  together  with  these,  the  Carystians,  the  Andrians, 
the  Tenians,  and  the  other  people  of  the  islands,  who  all  fought  on 
this  side  except  the  five  states  already  mentioned.  For  as  the  Per- 
sians penetrated  further  into  Greece,  they  were  joined  continually 
by  fresh  nations. 

Herodotus,  VIII,  1^-1^ 

Then  Themistocles,  when  he  saw  that  the  Peloponnesians  would 
carry  the  vote  against  him,  went  out  secretly  from  the  council,  and, 
instructing  a  certain  man  what  he  should  say,  sent  him  on  board 
a  merchant  ship  to  the  fleet  of  the  Medes.  The  man's  name  was 
Sicinnus  ;  he  was  one  of  Themistocles'  household  slaves,  and  acted 
as  tutor  to  his  sons  ;  in  after  times,  when  the  Thespians  were  admit- 
ting persons  to  citizenship,  Themistocles  made  him  a  Thespian,  and 
a  rich  man  to  boot.  The  ship  brought  Sicinnus  to  the  Persian  fleet, 
and  there  he  delivered  his  message  to  the  leaders  in  these  words  :  — 

"  The  Athenian  commander  has  sent  me  to  you  privily,  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  other  Greeks.  He  is  a  well-wisher  to  the 
king's  cause,  and  would  rather  success  should  attend  on  you  than 
on  his  countr}'men  ;  wherefore  he  bids  me  tell  you  that  fear  has 
seized  the  Greeks  and  they  are  meditating  a  hasty  flight.  Now  then 
it  is  open  to  you  to  achieve  the  best  work  that  ever  ye  wrought,  if 
only  ye  will  hinder  their  escaping.  They  no  longer  agree  among 
themselves,  so  that  they  will  not  now  make  any  resistance  —  nay, 
't  is  likely  ye  may  see  a  fight  already  begun  between  such  as  favour 


2o6  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

and  such  as  oppose  your  cause."    The  messenger,  when  he  had 
thus  expressed  himself,  departed  and  was  seen  no  more. 

Then  the  captains,  beheving  all  that  the  messenger  had  said, 
proceeded  to  land  a  large  body  of  Persian  troops  on  the  islet  of 
Psyttaleia,  which  lies  between  Salamis  and  the  mainland  ;  after 
which,  about  the  hour  of  midnight,  they  advanced  their  western 
wing  towards  Salamis,  so  as  to  inclose  the  Greeks.  At  the  same 
time  the  force  stationed  about  Ceos  and  Cynosura  moved  forward, 
and  filled  the  whole  strait  as  far  as  Munychia  with  their  ships. 
This  advance  was  made  to  prevent  the  Greeks  from  escaping  by 
flight,  and  to  block  them  up  in  Salamis,  where  it  was  thought  that 
vengeance  might  be  taken  upon  them  for  the  battles  fought  near 
Artemisium.  The  Persian  troops  were  landed  on  the  islet  of  Psyt- 
taleia, because,  as  soon  as  the  battle  began,  the  men  and  wrecks 
were  likely  to  be  drifted  thither,  as  the  isle  lay  in  the  very  path  of 
the  coming  fight,  —  and  they  would  thus  be  able  to  save  their  own 
men  and  destroy  those  of  the  enemy.  All  these  movements  were 
made  in  silence,  that  the  Greeks  might  have  no  knowledge  of 
them  ;  and  they  occupied  the  whole  night,  so  that  the  men  had  no 
time  to  get  their  sleep. 

Plutarch,  T/iemisfocIes,  ii 

Among  the  great  actions  of  Themistocles  at  this  crisis,  the  recall 
of  Aristides  was  not  the  least,  for,  before  the  war,  he  had  been 
ostracised  by  the  party  which  Themistocles  headed,  and  was  in 
banishment ;  but  now,  perceiving  that  the  people  regretted  his 
absence,  and  were  fearful  that  he  might  go  over  to  the  Persians  to 
revenge  himself,  and  thereby  ruin  the  affairs  of  Greece,  Themis- 
tocles proposed  a  decree  that  those  who  were  banished  for  a  time 
might  return  again,  to  give  assistance  by  word  and  deed  to  the 
cause  of  Greece  with  the  rest  of  their  fellow-citizens. 

6.  THE   BATTLE   OF   SALAMIS 

Herodotus,  VIII,  84-85 

The  fleet  had  scarce  left  the  land  when  they  were  attacked  by 
the  barbarians.  At  once  most  of  the  Greeks  began  to  back  water, 
and  were  about  touching  the  shore,  when  Ameinias  of  Pallene,  one 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  207 

of  the  Athenian  captains,  darted  forth  in  front  of  the  Une,  and 
charged  a  ship  of  the  enemy.  The  two  vessels  became  entangled, 
and  could  not  separate,  whereupon  the  rest  of  the  fleet  came  up 
to  help  Ameinias,  and  engaged  with  the  Persians.  Such  is  the 
account  which  the  Athenians  give  of  the  way  in  which  the  battle 
began  ;  but  the  Eginetans  maintain  that  the  vessel  which  had  been 
to  Egina  for  the  /Eacidae,  was  the  one  that  brought  on  the  fight. 
It  is  also  reported,  that  a  phantom  in  the  form  of  a  woman  ap- 
peared to  the  Greeks,  and,  in  a  voice  that  was  heard  from  end  to 
end  of  the  fleet,  cheered  them  on  to  the  fight ;  first,  however,  rebuk- 
ing them,  and  saying  —  "  Strange  men,  how  long  are  ye  going  to 
back  water  ?  " 

Against  the  Athenians,  who  held  the  western  extremity  of  the  line 
towards  Eleusis,  were  placed  the  Phoenicians  ;  against  the  Lacedae- 
monians, whose  station  was  eastward  towards  the  Piraeus,  the  lonians. 
Of  these  last  a  few  only  followed  the  advice  of  Themistocles,  to  fight 
backwardly  ;  the  greater  number  did  far  otherwise. 

Plutarch,  Themistocles,  15 

Then  the  rest,  put  on  an  equality  in  numbers  with  their  foes, 
because  the  Barbarians  had  to  attack  them  by  detachments  in  the 
narrow  strait  and  so  ran  foul  of  one  another,  routed  them,  though 
they  resisted  till  the  evening  drew  on,  and  thus  "bore  away,"  as 
Simonides  says,  "  that  fair  and  notorious  victory,  than  which  no 
more  brilliant  exploit  was  ever  performed  upon  the  sea,  either  by 
Hellenes  or  Barbarians,  through  the  manly  valor  and  common  ardor 
of  all  who  fought  their  ships,  but  through  the  clever  judgment  of 
Themistocles." 

Herodotus,  VIII,  86-89 

Far  the  greater  number  of  the  Persian  ships  engaged  in  this 
battle  were  disabled,  either  by  the  Athenians  or  by  the  Eginetans. 
For  as  the  Greeks  fought  in  order  and  kept  their  line,  while  the 
barbarians  were  in  confusion  and  had  no  plan  in  anything  that 
they  did,  the  issue  of  the  battle  could  scarce  be  other  than  it  was. 
Yet  the  Persians  fought  far  more  bravely  here  than  at  Euboea,  and 
indeed  surpassed  themselves  ;  each  did  his  utmost  through  fear  of 
Xerxes,  for  each  thought  that  the  king's  eye  was  upon  himself. 


2o8  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

What  part  the  several  nations,  whether  Greek  or  barbarian, 
took  in  the  combat,  I  am  not  able  to  say  for  certain  ;  Artemisia, 
however,  I  know,  distinguished  herself  in  such  a  way  as  raised  her 
even  higher  than  she  stood  before  in  the  esteem  of  the  king. 
For  after  confusion  had  spread  throughout  the  whole  of  the  king's 
fleet,  and  her  ship  was  closely  pursued  by  an  Athenian  trireme, 
she,  having  no  way  to  fly,  since  in  front  of  her  were  a  number  of 
friendly  vessels,  and  she  was  nearest  of  all  the  Persians  to  the 
enemy,  resolved  on  a  measure  which  in  fact  proved  her  safety. 
Pressed  by  the  Athenian  pursuer,  she  bore  straight  against  one  of 
the  ships  of  her  own  party,  a  Calyndian,  which  had  Damasithymus, 
the  Calyndian  king,  himself  on  board.  I  cannot  say  whether  she 
had  had  any  quarrel  with  the  man  while  the  fleet  was  at  the  Hel- 
lespont, or  no  —  neither  can  I  decide  whether  she  of  set  purpose 
attacked  his  vessel,  or  whether  it  merely  chanced  that  the  Calyndian 
ship  came  in  her  way  —  but  certain  it  is  that  she  bore  down  upon  his 
vessel  and  sank  it,  and  that  thereby  she  had  the  good  fortune  to  pro- 
cure herself  a  double  advantage.  P^or  the  commander  of  the  Athe- 
nian trireme,  when  he  saw  her  bear  down  on  one  of  the  enemy's 
fleet,  thought  immediately  that  her  vessel  was  a  Greek,  or  else  had  de- 
serted from  the  Persians,  and  was  now  fighting  on  the  Greek  side  ; 
he  therefore  gave  up  the  chase,  and  turned  away  to  attack  others. 

Thus  in  the  first  place  she  saved  her  life  by  the  action,  and  was 
enabled  to  get  clear  off  from  the  battle  ;  while  further,  it  fell  out 
that  in  the  very  act  of  doing  the  king  an  injury  she  raised  herself 
to  a  greater  height  than  ever  in  his  esteem.  P^or  as  Xerxes  beheld 
the  fight,  he  remarked  (it  is  said)  the  destruction  of  the  vessel, 
whereupon  the  bystanders  observed  to  him  —  "  Seest  thou,  master, 
how  well  Artemisia  fights,  and  how  she  has  just  sunk  a  ship  of 
the  enemy  ?  "  Then  Xerxes  asked  if  it  were  really  Artemisia's 
doing  ;  and  they  answered,  "'  Certainly  ;  for  they  knew  her  ensign  :  " 
while  all  made  sure  that  the  sunken  vessel  belonged  to  the  opposite 
side.  Everything,  it  is  said,  conspired  to  prosper  the  queen  —  it 
was  especially  fortunate  for  her  that  not  one  of  those  on  board  the 
Calyndian  ship  survived  to  become  her  accuser.  Xerxes,  they  say, 
in  reply  to  the  remarks  made  to  him,  observed  —  '"  My  men  have 
behaved  like  women,  my  women  like  men !  " 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  209 

There  fell  in  this  combat  Ariabignes,  one  of  the  chief  com- 
manders of  the  fleet,  who  was  son  of  Darius  and  brother  of 
Xerxes  ;  and  with  him  perished  a  vast  number  of  men  of  high 
repute,  Persians,  Medes,  and  allies.  Of  the  Greeks  there  died  only 
a  few  ;  for,  as  they  were  able  to  swim,  all  those  that  were  not  slain 
outright  by  the  enemy  escaped  from  the  sinking  vessels  and  swam 
across  to  Salamis.  But  on  the  side  of  the  barbarians  more  perished 
by  drowning  than  in  any  other  way,  since  they  did  not  know  how 
to  swim.  The  great  destruction  took  place  when  the  ships  which 
had  been  first  engaged  began  to  fly ;  for  they  who  were  stationed 
in  the  rear,  anxious  to  display  their  valour  before  the  eyes  of  the 
king,  made  every  effort  to  force  their  way  to  the  front,  and  thus 
became  entangled  with  such  of  their  own  vessels  as  were  retreating. 

Herodotus,  VIII,  91,  93,  95 

When  the  rout  of  the  barbarians  began,  and  they  sought  to 
make  their  escape  to  Phalerum,  the  Eginetans,  awaiting  them  in 
the  channel,  performed  exploits  worthy  to  be  recorded.  Through 
the  whole  of  the  confused  struggle  the  Athenians  employed  them- 
selves in  destroying  such  ships  as  either  made  resistance  or  fled  to 
shore,  while  the  Eginetans  dealt  with  those  which  endeavoured  to 
escape  down  the  strait ;  so  that  the  Persian  vessels  were  no  sooner 
clear  of  the  Athenians  than  forthwith  they  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Eginetan  squadron.  .  .  . 

The  Greeks  who  gained  the  greatest  glory  of  all  in  the  sea-fight 
off  Salamis  were  the  Eginetans,  and  after  them  the  Athenians. 
The  individuals  of  most  distinction  were  Polycritus  the  Eginetan, 
and  two  Athenians,  Eumenes  of  Anagyrus,  and  Ameinias  of 
Pallene  ;  the  latter  of  whom  had  pressed  Artemisia  so  hard.  And 
assuredly,  if  he  had  known  that  the  vessel  carried  Artemisia  on 
board,  he  would  never  have  given  over  the  chase  till  he  had  either 
succeeded  in  taking  her,  or  else  been  taken  himself.  P"or  the 
Athenian  captains  had  received  special  orders  touching  the  queen  ; 
and  moreover  a  reward  of  ten  thousand  drachmas  had  been  pro- 
claimed for  any  one  who  should  make  her  prisoner ;  since  there 
was  great  indignation  felt  that  a  woman  should  appear  in  arms 
against  Athens.    However,  as  I  said  before,  she  escaped  ;  and  so 


2IO  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

did  some  others  whose  ships  survived  the  engagement ;  and  these 
were  all  now  assembled  at  the  port  of  Phalerum.  .  .  . 

In  the  midst  of  the  confusion  Aristides,  the  son  of  Lysimachus, 
the  Athenian,  of  whom  I  lately  spoke  as  a  man  of  the  greatest 
excellence,  performed  the  following  service.  He  took  a  number 
of  the  Athenian  heavy-armed  troops,  who  had  previously  been 
stationed  along  the  shore  of  Salamis,  and,  landing  with  them  on 
the  islet  of  Psyttaleia,  slew  all  the  Persians  by  whom  it  was 
occupied. 

Herodotus,  VIII,  97,  99 

Xerxes,  when  he  saw  the  extent  of  his  loss,  began  to  be  afraid 
lest  the  Greeks  might  be  counselled  by  the  lonians,  or  without 
their  advice  might  determine  to  sail  straight  to  the  Hellespont  and 
break  down  the  bridges  there  ;  in  which  case  he  would  be  blocked 
up  in  Europe,  and  run  great  risk  of  perishing.  He  therefore  made 
up  his  mind  to  fly ;  but,  as  he  wished  to  hide  his  purpose  alike 
from  the  Greeks  and  from  his  own  people,  he  set  to  work  to  carry 
a  mound  across  the  channel  to  Salamis,  and  at  the  same  time 
began  fastening  a  number  of  Phoenician  merchant  ships  together, 
to  serve  at  once  for  a  bridge  and  a  wall.  He  likewise  made  many 
warlike  preparations,  as  if  he  were  about  to  engage  the  Greeks 
once  more  at  sea.  Now,  when  these  things  were  seen,  all  grew 
fully  persuaded  that  the  king  was  bent  on  remaining,  and  intended 
to  push  the  war  in  good  earnest.  Mardonius,  however,  was  in  no 
respect  deceived  ;  for  long  acquaintance  enabled  him  to  read  all 
the  king's  thoughts.  Meanwhile,  Xerxes,  though  engaged  in  this 
way,  sent  off  a  messenger  to  carry  intelligence  of  his  misfortune 
to  Persia.  .  .  . 

At  Susa,  on  the  arrival  of  the  first  message,  which  said  that 
Xerxes  was  master  of  Athens,  such  was  the  delight  of  the  Persians 
who  had  remained  behind,  that  they  forthwith  strewed  all  the 
streets  with  myrtle  boughs,  and  burnt  incense,  and  fell  to  feasting 
and  merriment.  In  like  manner,  when  the  second  message  reached 
them,  so  sore  was  their  dismay,  that  they  all  with  one  accord  rent 
their  garments,  and  cried  aloud,  and  wept  and  wailed  without  stint. 
They  laid  the  blame  of  the  disaster  on  Mardonius  ;   and   their 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  211 

grief  on  the  occasion  was  less  on  account  of  the  damage  done  to 
their  ships,  than  owing  to  the  alarm  which  they  felt  about  the 
safety  of  the  king.  Hence  their  trouble  did  not  cease  till  Xerxes 
himself,  by  his  arrival,  put  an  end  to  their  fears. 

Nothing  could  be  more  dramatic  than  /Eschylus's  description 
of  the  court  at  Susa,  stunned  to  silence  by  the  awful  news  of  the 
disaster.  The  contrast  with  the  brave,  confident  setting  out  of  the 
expedition  is  overwhelming.  The  breathless  messenger  then  re- 
lates the  story  in  answer  to  manifold  questions  and  ends  with  a 
most  thrilling  narrative  of  the  battle  itself. 

yEscHYLUS,  Persians,  249-259 

Chorus.    All  the  truth  for  good  or  evil  thou  wilt  learn  without 
delay, 
For  there  comes  a  man  whose  running  clearly  proves  his  Persian 

breed, 
And  methinks  some  certain  tidings  travel  on  his  foot  of  speed. 

Efiter  Messenger 

Messenger.    Imperial  centre  of  vast  Asia, 
Land  of  the  Persians,  port  and  haven  of  wealth, 
What  plenitude  of  glory  at  one  stroke 
Is  perished  !  Persia's  flower  is  fallen  and  gone. 
Ah  me! 

'T  is  evil  even  to  herald  evil  news. 
Yet,  Persians,  I  must  open  all  your  grief. 
The  whole  of  the  Asian  army  is  destroyed. 

.^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  290-301 

Atossa.    I  am  stunned  to  silence  ;  for  such  weight  of  woe 
Baffles  expression,  making  question  dumb. 
Yet  god-appointed  griefs  must  be  endured. 
Speak  then  in  order,  though  thy  faltering  tongue 
May  quail  in  the  recital,  —  who  survives. 
And  whom  of  our  commanders  must  we  mourn  .-• 
What  warrior,  gifted  with  the  marshal's  wand, 


212  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Hath  fallen  and  left  his  post,  defenceless  now  ? 

Mess.    The  king  yet  living  sees  the  light  of  day. 

At.    a  light  of  blessing  for  my  palace  home  ; 
Fair  day-spring  in  mid-darkness  !  Tell  me  more. 

^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  334-371 

At.    What  number  of  the  Grecian  fleet  so  great 
Emboldened  them  to  meet  our  Persian  men, 
Thus  front  to  front,  and  armed  prow  to  prow  .? 

Mess.    For  numbers,  be  assured,  our  Asian  fleet 
•Lacked  not  pre-eminence.    The  Greeks  that  day 
Had  ten  times  thirty  ships,  whereof  were  ten 
Renowned  for  swiftness.    Xerxes,  well  I  wot, 
Led  full  a  thousand,  —  and,  of  noted  speed. 
Two  hundred  sail  and  seven.    From  such  account 
Judge  if  we  seemed  unequal  for  that  fight. 
Some  power  unearthly  swayed  the  balance  there 
To  countervail  advantage  for  our  loss. 
The  gods  themselves  protect  Athena's  town. 

At.    Then  Athens  yet  remains  unsacked,  unrazed } 

Mess.    Even  unendangered  while  Athenians  live. 

At.    Whence  came  the  encounter  of  the  navies }    Tell. 
Which  gave  the  onset .''    Was  't  the  Grecian  fleet  ? 
Or  did  my  son  in  pride  of  strength  begin  t 

Mess.    From  nothing  mortal,  from  some  angry  god, 
Came  the  beginning  of  that  course  of  woe. 
A  man  of  Hellas,  from  the  Athenian  host, 
Came  and  told  Xerxes  thy  great  son  this  tale  : 
"  Let  but  the  shades  of  gloomy  Night  come  o'er, 
The  Hellenes  will  not  bide,  but,  each  his  way. 
Manning  the  benches  with  a  rush,  will  seek 
By  covert  flight  to  save  themselves  alive." 
Xerxes,  on  hearing  it,  perceiving  not 
The  envy  of  Heaven,  nor  the  Greek  man's  guile, 
Forthwith  to  all  his  admirals  gave  command 
That  when  the  sun  had  ceased  to  burn  the  ground 
With  ardent  beams,  and  darkness  occupied 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  213 

The  aetherial  realm,  our  navy's  main  should  then 

In  triple  line  watch  o'er  the  passages 

Of  exit  from  the  strait,  while  other  ships 

All  round  the  isle  of  Aias  should  keep  guard  ; 

And  if  the  Greeks  escaped  from  death  and  doom, 

Finding  some  secret  outlet  for  their  fleet. 

The  captains  all  should  lose  their  heads. 

^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  386-471 

But  when  fair  day  with  milk-white  steeds  appeared 
And  covered  all  the  land  with  gladdening  rays, 
Then  rose  from  that  Greek  armament  a  song 
Both  loud  and  musical,  and  the  island  rocks 
Re-echoed,  shouting  battle.    On  our  side 
Fell  disappointment,  wonder  and  dismay, 
Shattering  the  general  hope.    Not  as  for  flight 
.  Pealed  forth  the  Hellenes  that  high  Paean-hymn, 
But  with  good  courage  rallying  to  the  fray. 
All  yonder  side  blazed  with  the  trumpet's  blare. 
Then  with  one  impulse,  at  the  pilot's  word. 
All  oars  were  dipped  and  smote  the  seething  brine, 
And  swiftly  their  whole  battle  hove  in  view. 
Their  right  wing  in  good  order  led  the  way. 
Then  all  their  navy  followed  ;  then  one  heard 
A  cr)^  that  grew  :  "  Sons  of  Hellenes,  on  ! 
Save  Hellas,  save  your  children,  save  your  wives. 
Your  fathers'  graves,  the  temples  of  their  gods, 
From  slavery  !  Fight,  to  defend  your  all !  " 
Then  from  a  sea  of  Persian  voices  roared 
The  counter  clamour.    P^or  the  hour  was  come. 
Now  ship  smote  ship  with  brazen-pointed  prow. 
A  Greek  began  that  onslaught,  tearing  off 
All  the  ornature  from  a  Sidonian  hull. 
Then  on  and  on,  with  ships  for  spears,  they  fought. 
The  Persian  fleet,  in  a  perpetual  stream, 
At  first  appeared  invincible  ;  but  when 
Their  numbers  in  the  narrows  packed  and  hemmed 


214  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Grew  dense,  they  cracked  their  oarage  in  the  crowd, 
And  smote  each  other  with  their  beaks  of  brass, 
And  none  might  help  his  fellow.    Ware  of  this, 
The  Grecian  shipmasters  with  cunning  skill 
Justled  us  round  and  round,  —  till  hulls  capsized, 
And  all  the  sea  was  hidden  from  our  sight. 
With  wrecks  and  human  carnage  covered  o'er. 
The  cliffs  and  jutting  reefs  were  thronged  with  dead. 
And  every  vessel  left  in  the  Asian  fleet 
Rowed  hard  for  safety  in  disordered  rout, 
But  they,  like  men  who  have  tunnies  in  the  net. 
With  fragments  of  snapped  oars,  splinters  of  wreck, 
Smote,  hacked  and  slew,  that  all  that  reach  of  sea 
With  wailing  cries  and  shouts  of  triumphing 
Resounded,  till  work-baflling  night  came  down. 
Ten  days  on  end  would  not  suffice  to  tell, 
In  ceaseless  talk,  the  whole  account  of  woe. 
Let  this  suffice  thee  ;  never  heretofore 
Died  in  one  day  so  vast  a  number  of  men. 

At.    Woe,  woe  !    What  floods  of  sorrow  are  unbound 
For  Persia,  and  the  whole  Barbarian  world ! 

Mess.    Know  thou,  the  grief  of  griefs  is  yet  to  come. 
Such  dire  calamity  befell  them  there. 
That  more  than  twice  outweighed  what  hath  been  told. 

At.    What  chance  could  be  more  dire  than  that  we  have 
heard  ? 
Declare,  what  onslaught  of  calamity 
Came  on  the  host,  transcending  all  that  woe  } 

Mess.    What  Persian  men  were  there  of  noblest  strain, 
For  birth  and  valour  of  spirit  most  approved. 
Foremost  in  constant  service  to  the  king, 
Most  cruel  deaths  ingloriously  have  died. 

At.    O  loss  ineffable  !    O  cruel  blow  ! 
How  mean'st  thou  these  have  perished  }    By  what  doom  ? 

Mess,    In  front  of  Salamis  an  island  lies, 
Small,  rough  for  moorage,  which  dance-loving  Pan 
Haunts  with  light  hoof,  roving  the  seaward  ground. 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE          215 

There  planted  Xerxes  that  choice  band,  that  when 
The  broken  foemen  on  that  island  shore 
Sought  refuge,  they  might  take  the  helpless  prey 
And  kill  them,  rescuing  from  the  narrow  seas 
What  friends  might  drift  there. 

Badly  he  foresaw 
Futurity.    For  when  the  God  had  given 
To  Greece  the  glory  of  that  fight,  forthwith 
In  the  afternoon,  before  the  sun  was  low, 
They  cased  them  in  their  armour,  and  leapt  forth 
From  shipboard,  and  encircled  all  that  isle. 
Our  nobles  knew  not  where  to  turn.    Then  came 
The  crashing  stones  from  stalwart  hands,  then  flew 
The  life-destroying  arrow  from  the  string. 
Last,  in  one  roaring  flood  from  every  side 
They  rushed  and  closed  them  round  with  havoc  dire, 
And  smote  and  hewed  them  limb  from  limb,  until 
Those  princely  lives,  to  a  man,  were  all  extinct. 
Xerxes  beheld  and  groaned,  o'erwhelmed  with  woe. 
A  seat  was  his  commanding  all  the  host, 
A  lofty  mound  near  to  the  open  sea. 
Whence,  with  loud  cries,  and  rending  of  his  robes, 
He  rose  in  sudden  haste,  and  passed  the  word 
For  the  land  army  to  retreat :  then  rushed 
To  headlong  flight.  —  Such  dire  calamity 
Beside  the  former  calls  for  thy  lament. 

^SCHYLUS,  Persians,  477-512 

At.    But  tell  us  of  the  remnant  of  the  fleet. 
Where  didst  thou  leave  them  .?    Canst  thou  certify  } 

Mess.    The  captains  of  what  ships  remained  afloat 
Sailed  down  the  wind  in  rash  disordered  flight. 

Meantime  the  escaping  army  suffered  loss, 
Some  perishing  of  thirst  by  the  clear  wells 
In  wide  Boeotia,  while  the  rest  of  us. 
Hungry  and  scant  of  breath,  passed  on  within 
Phocis  and  Doris  and  the  Melian  shore. 


2i6  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Where  mild  Spercheius  laves  a  smiling  land. 
From  thence  the  borders  of  Achaia's  plain 
And  towns  of  Thessaly  received  our  host, 
Hardly  bested  and  hungering  :  there  most  died, 
Of  thirst  and  famine.    Both  were  in  the  extreme. 

Yet  moved  we  onward  through  Magnesian  wastes 
To  Macedonia,  crossing  Axius'  fords, 
And  passing  Bolbe's  waving  reeds  ;  then  came 
To  Mount  Pangaion  and  the  Edonians'  land. 
That  night,  against  the  season  of  the  year, 
By  Providence  Divine  a  wintry  storm 
Made  hard  with  ice  the  Strymon's  holy  stream, 
That  men  who  erst  had  set  the  gods  at  nought 
Bowed  down  and  worshipped,  praising  Earth  and  Heaven. 
When  those  loud  prayers  were  ended,  all  the  host 
Began  to  cross  the  ice-encrusted  ford. 
But  only  those  who  started  ere  the  sun 
Had  shed  abroad  his  beams  remain  alive. 
For  the  bright  orb  with  radiant  warmth  dissolved 
And  sundered  the  mid  passage  :  down  they  fell. 
Heaped  on  each  other  :  he  was  fortunate 
Who  in  that  throng  first  yielded  up  his  breath. 

Not  many  are  they  who  'scaped,  and  with  much  toil 
Hardly  have  passed  through  Thracia  to  a  land 
Where  friendly  hearths  received  them.    Persia  mourns 
The  loss  of  all  that  youth,  her  dearest  flower. 

^SCHVLUS,  Persians,  787-828 

Cho.    Say,  Lord  Dareius,  what  shall  be  the  end } 
How  shall  we  Persians  meet  the  time  to  come, 
How  make  the  best  of  fortune  t 

Dareius.  Nevermore 

Wage  wars  on  Hellas,  though  the  Median  host 
Be  thrice  so  many.    For  the  country  there 
Fights  for  her  sons. 

Cho.  How  meanst  thou  that  the  land 

Fights  for  her  men  .? 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  217 

Dar.  The  more  assailants  come 

The  more  she  kills  by  famine. 

Cho.  Then  we  '11  raise 

A  chosen  band  of  warriors  able  and  few. 

Dar.    Not  even  the  remnant  that  remains  behind 
To  range  through  Hellas,  shall  return  alive. 

Cho.    How  .?    Doth  not  all  that  force  of  Eastern  men 
Pass  Helle's  ford  from  Europe  hitherward .? 

Dar.    Few  out  of  all  that  multitude  —  if  aught 
Of  credence  to  Heaven's  oracles  be  due 
From  him  who,  looking  on  to-day's  event, 
Sees  their  fulfilment  absolute  and  clear. 
For  thus  't  is  prophesied.    Through  idle  hope 
Xerxes  will  leave  the  choicest  of  his  men 
To  winter  where  Asopus  with  cool  rills 
Waters  the  plain,  giving  Boeotia's  land 
A  draught  right  welcome.    What  awaits  them  there  ? 
Vengeance  condign  for  impious  violence. 
They  came  to  Hellas,  and  were  not  afraid 
To  plunder  shrines  and  burn  the  temples  down. 
No  reverence  held  them  ;  —  altars  laid  in  dust. 
Statues  uprooted  from  their  pedestals. 
All  things  divine  o'erturned,  attest  their  guilt. 
Nor  shall  their  punishment  be  less  :  —  they  suffer 
Even  now,  and  more  shall  suffer ;  still  that  fount 
Is  gushing,  unexhausted,  unexplored. 
Plataea's  plain  shall  prove  it,  pasted  over 
With  blood  of  slaughter  from  the  Spartan  spear. 
Three  generations  hence  those  heaps  of  slain 
Voiceless  shall  blazon  to  posterity 
Loud  warnings  against  human  pride.    That  flower 
Soon  falls,  and  yields  calamity  for  fruit. 
Unlooked-for  harvest  of  dire  misery. 
Mark  well  the  wages  of  their  sin,  and  bear 
Hellas  and  Athens  ever  in  mind.    Let  none, 
Raising  his  heart  above  the  things  he  hath 
,  In  passionate  love  for  plans  unrealized. 


2i8  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Make  shipwreck  of  great  fortune.    Zeus  brings  on 

His  inquisition  at  the  destined  hour, 

A  judge  severe  to  punish  boastful  thoughts. 

Salamis  no  less  than  Marathon  was  sung  by  the  contemporary 
poets  ;  the  brilliant  Pindar  and  the  sympathetic  Simonides  both 
refer  to  it  in  noble  verse. 

Simonides's  epigram  was  inscribed  on  stone  and  set  up  for  all 
to  read ;  and  when  it  had  fallen  into  a  dilapidated  condition  it  was 
restored  by  the  chief  priest,  Helladius,  as  this  fragmentary  inscrip- 
tion states. 

Pindar,  Isthm.,  IV,  48 

Many  arrows  hath  my  truthful  tongue  in  store  wherewith  to 
sound  the  praises  of  her  sons  :  and  even  but  now  in  war  might 
Aias'  city,  Salamis,  bear  witness  thereto  in  her  deliverance  by 
Aigina's  seamen  amid  the  destroying  tempest  of  Zeus,  when 
death  came  thick  as  hail  on  the  unnumbered  hosts. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  1 7 

Heading  drawn  up  by  Helladius 

Since  the  inscription  of  those  heroes  who  fell  in  the  Persian 
War  and  who  lie  here  was  damaged  by  time,  Helladius  the  chief 
priest  caused  it  to  be  rewritten  in  honour  of  the  dead  and  of  the 
city.    Simonides  wrote  it. 

Simonides,  107 

Epigram 

Desiring  to  speed  the  day  of  freedom  for  Hellas  and  the 
Megarians,  we  received  the  fate  of  death ;  some  by  the  steep 
mountain  of  Euboea,  where  is  the  precinct  of  holy  Artemis  who 
bears  the  bow,  some  in  the  mountain  of  Mycale,  some  before 
Salamis  (after  destroying  utterly  the  ships  of  the  Phoenicians), 
some  too  in  the  Boeotian  plain,  who  dared  to  fight  hand  to  hand 
against  mounted  men.  Our  townsmen  gave  this  honour  .to  us, 
dead,  in  the  centre  of  the  thronged  agora  of  Nisaea.         , 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  219 

Note  by  Helladius 
Up  to  my  time  the  city  has  sacrificed  a  bull. 

7.  PLAT/EA 

The  final  act  had  now  come  and  Persia  made  her  last  effort 
at  conquest.  As  the  victory  at  Salamis  was  due  chiefly  to  the 
Athenians,  so  the  success  at  Platasa  was  largely  the  work  of  the 
Lacedaemonians. 

Herodotus^  IX,  61-65 

The  Athenians,  as  soon  as  they  received  this  message,  were 
anxious  to  go  to  the  aid  of  the  Spartans,  and  to  help  them  to  the 
uttermost  of  their  power ;  but,  as  they  were  upon  the  march,  the 
Greeks  on  the  king's  side,  whose  place  in  the  line  had  been  opposite 
theirs,  fell  upon  them,  and  so  harassed  them  by  their  attacks  that 
it  was  not  possible  for  them  to  give  the  succour  they  desired. 
Accordingly  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  the  Tegeans  —  whom  noth- 
ing could  induce  to  quit  their  side  —  were  left  alone  to  resist  the 
Persians.  Including  the  light-armed,  the  number  of  the  former  was 
50,000 ;  while  that  of  the  Tegeans  was  3000.  Now,  therefore,  as 
they  were  about  to  engage  with  Mardonius  and  the  troops  under 
him,  they  made  ready  to  offer  sacrifice.  The  victims,  however, 
for  some  time  were  not  favourable ;  and,  during  the  delay,  many 
fell  on  the  Spartan  side,  and  a  still  greater  number  were  wounded. 
For  the  Persians  had  made  a  rampart  of  their  wicker  shields,  and 
shot  from  behind  them  such  clouds  of  arrows,  that  the  Spartans 
were  sorely  distressed.  The  victims  continued  unpropitious  ;  till 
at  last  Pausanias  raised  his  eyes  to  the  Heraeum  of  the  Plataeans, 
and  calling  the  goddess  to  his  aid,  besought  her  not  to  disappoint 
the  hopes  of  the  Greeks. 

As  he  offered  his  prayer,  the  Tegeans,  advancing  before  the 
rest,  rushed  forward  against  the  enemy  ;  and  the  Lacedaemonians, 
who  had  obtained  favourable  omens  the  moment  that  Pausanias 
prayed,  at  length,  after  their  long  delay,  advanced  to  the  attack ; 
while  the  Persians,  on  their  side,  left  shooting,  and  prepared  to 
meet-  them.    And  first  the  combat  was  at  the  wicker   shields. 


220  READINGS   IN  GREEK   HISTORY 

Afterwards,  when  these  were  swept  down,  a  fierce  contest  took 
place  by  the  side  of  the  temple  of  Demeter,  which  lasted  long,  and 
ended  in  a  hand-to-hand  struggle.  The  barbarians  many  times 
seized  hold  of  the  Greek  spears  and  brake  them  ;  for  in  boldness 
and  warlike  spirit  the  Persians  were  not  a  whit  inferior  'to  the 
Greeks  ;  but  they  were  without  bucklers,  untrained,  and  far  below 
the  enemy  in  respect  of  skill  in  arms.  Sometimes  singly,  sometimes 
in  bodies  of  ten,  now  fewer  and  now  more  in  number,  they  dashed 
forward  upon  the  Spartan  ranks,  and  so  perished. 

The  fight  went  most  against  the  Greeks,  where  Mardonius, 
mounted  upon  a  white  horse,  and  surrounded  by  the  bravest  of  all 
the  Persians,  the  thousand  picked  men,  fought  in  person.  So  long 
as  Mardonius  was  alive,  this  body  resisted  all  attacks,  and,  while  they 
defended  their  own  lives,  struck  down  no  small  number  of  Spartans  ; 
but  after  Mardonius  fell,  and  the  troops  with  him,  which  were  the 
main  strength  of  the  army,  perished,  the  remainder  yielded  to  the 
Lacedaemonians,  and  took  to  flight.  Their  light  clothing,  and  want 
of  bucklers,  were  of  the  greatest  hurt  to  them  :  for  they  had  to 
contend  against  men  heavily  armed,  while  they  themselves  were 
without  any  such  defence. 

Then  was  the  warning  of  the  oracle  fulfilled  ;  and  the  vengeance 
which  was  due  to  the  Spartans  for  the  slaughter  of  Leonidas  was  paid 
them  by  Mardonius  —  then  too  did  Pausanias,  the  son  of  Cleom- 
brotus,  and  grandson  of  Anaxandrides  (I  omit  to  recount  his  other 
ancestors,  since  they  are  the  same  with  those  of  Leonidas),  win  a 
victory  exceeding  in  glory  all  those  to  which  our  knowledge  extends. 
Mardonius  was  slain  by  Arimnestus,  a  man  famous  in  Sparta  —  the 
same  who  in  the  Messenian  war,  which  came  after  the  struggle 
against  the  Medes,  fought  a  battle  near  Stenyclerus  with  but  three 
hundred  men  against  the  whole  force  of  the  Messenians,  and  him- 
self perished,  and  the  three  hundred  with  him. 

The  Persians,  as  soon  as  they  were  put  to  flight  by  the  Lacedae- 
monians, ran  hastily  away,  without  preserving  any  order,  and  took 
refuge  in  their  own  camp,  within  the  wooden  defence  which  they 
had  raised  in  the  Theban  territory.  It  is  a  marvel  to  me  how  it 
came  to  pass,  that  although  the  battle  was  fought  quite  close  to  the 
grove  of  Demeter,  yet  not  a  single  Persian  appears  to  have  died  on 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  221 

the  sacred  soil,  nor  even  to  have  set  foot  upon  it,  while  round 
about  the  precinct,  in  the  unconsecrated  ground,  great  numbers 
perished.  I  imagine  —  if  it  is  lawful,  in  matters  which  concern 
the  gods,  to  imagine  anything — that  the  goddess  herself  kept 
them  out,  because  they  had  burnt  her  dwelling  at  Eleusis.  Such, 
then,  was  the  issue  of  this  battle. 

Pindar,  Fyf/i.,  I,  75 

From  Salamis  shall  I  of  Athenians  take  reward  of  thanks,  at 
Sparta  when  I  shall  tell  in  a  song  to  come  of  the  battle  before 
Kithairon,  wherein  the  Medes  that  bear  crooked  bows  were  over- 
thrown, but  by  the  fair-watered  banks  of  Himeras  it  shall  be  for 
the  song  I  have  rendered  to  the  sons  of  Deinomenes,  which  by 
their  valour  they  have  earned,  since  the  men  that  warred  against 
them  are  overthrown. 

Sparta  did  not  wear  her  honors  gracefully.  Her  king  erected 
an  arrogant  epigram  on  the  famous  tripod  that  was  dedicated  at 
Delphi,  but  the  Lacedaemonians  erased  this  and  added  the  list  of 
cities  who  had  shared  in  the  victories. 

The  base  which  supported  the  tripod  was  in  the  form  of  three 
intertwined  serpents,  and  the  names  on  their  coils  may  still  be  seen 
in  the  Hippodrome  at  Constantinople,  where  the  monument  was 
carried  at  some  time  after  Pausanias  had  seen  it  at  Delphi.^ 

Thucydides,  I,  132 

But  by  his  contempt  of  the  laws  and  imitation  of  the  barbarians, 
he  gave  grounds  for  much  suspicion  of  his  being  discontented  with 
things  established  ;  all  the  occasions  on  which  he  had  in  any  way 
departed  from  the  regular  customs  were  passed  in  review,  and  it 
was  remembered  that  he  had  taken  upon  himself  to  have  inscribed 
on  the  tripod  at  Delphi,  which  was  dedicated  by  the  Hellenes  as 
the  first-fruits  of  the  spoil  of  the  Medes,  the  following  couplet:  — 

The  Mede  defeated,  great  Pausanias  raised 
This  monument,  that  Phoebus  miglit  be  praised. 

1  See  Pausanias,  X,  xiii,  5,  and  Frazer's  note  ;  also  Hicks  and  Hill,  19  and  note.  Further 
dedicatory  offerings  are  spoken  of  by  Pausanias  at  Olympia  (V,  xxiii,  1-2),  and  at  Plataea 
(IX,  ii,  4),  and  there  must  have  been  many  others. 


222  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

At  the  time  the  Lacedaemonians  had  at  once  erased  the  couplet, 
and  inscribed  the  names  of  the  cities  that  had  aided  in  the  over- 
throw of  the  barbarian  and  dedicated  the  offering, 

Pausanias,  V,  xxiii,  1-2 

Passing  by  the  entrance  to  the  Council  House  you  come  to  a 
standing  image  of  Zeus  without  an  inscription.  Then  turning  to 
the  north  you  will  come  to  another  image  of  Zeus,  which  looks 
towards  the  rising  sun  :  it  was  dedicated  by  the  Greeks  who  fought 
at  Plataea  against  Mardonius  and  the  Medes.  There  are  also 
engraved  on  the  right  side  of  the  pedestal  the  names  of  the  cities 
that  took  part  in  the  battle,  first  the  Lacedaemonians,  next  the 
Athenians,  third  and  fourth  the  Corinthians  and  Sicyonians,  fifth 
the  Aeginetans,  next  the  Megarians  and  Epidaurians,  the  Arcadians 
of  Tegea  and  Orchomenus,  and  after  them  the  peoples  of  Phlius, 
Troezen,  and  Hermion,  the  Tirynthians  of  Argolis,  the  Platasans 
(the  only  Boeotian  people),  the  Argives  of  Mycenae,  the  islanders 
of  Ceos  and  Melos,  the  Ambraciots  of  Thesprotis  in  Epirus,  the 
Tenians  and  Lepreans.  The  Lepreans  were  the  only  people  from 
Triphylia,  but  the  Tenians  were  not  the  only  people  from  the 
Aegean  and  the  Cyclades,  there  were  also  Naxians  and  Cythnians, 
also  Styrians  from  Euboea.  After  these,  there  were  the  Eleans 
and  Potidaeans  and  Anactorians,  and,  lastly,  the  Chalcidians  of 
the  Euripus. 

PausiDiias,  IX,  ii,  4 

Just  at  the  entrance  into  Plataea  are  the  graves  of  the  men 
who  fought  against  the  Medes,  There  are  separate  graves  for  the 
Lacedaemonians  and  Athenians  who  fell,  and  elegies  of  Simonides 
are  carved  upon  them.  The  rest  of  the  Greeks  are  buried  in  a 
common  tomb.  Not  far  from  this  common  tomb  is  an  altar  of  Zeus 
of  Freedom.  ...  It  is  of  bronze ;  but  the  altar  and  image  of 
Zeus  are  made  of  white  marble.  They  still  celebrate  games  called 
the  Eleutheria  {"  games  of  freedom  ")  every  fourth  year,  at  which 
the  chief  prizes  offered  are  for  running.  They  run  in  armour  in 
front  of  the  altar.  The  trophy  which  the  Greeks  set  up  for  the 
battle  of  Plataea  stands  about  fifteen  furlongs  from  the  city. 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE          223 

Plutarch,  Arisfides,  ig 

Of  those  who  contended  in  behalf  of  Hellas,  there  fell  in  all 
one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty.  Of  these,  fifty-two  were 
Athenians,  all  of  the  /Eantid  tribe,  according  to  Clidemus,  which 
made  the  bravest  contest  (for  which  reason  the  ^antids  used  to 
sacrifice  regularly  to  the  Sphragitic  nymphs  the  sacrifice  ordained 
by  the  P}-thian  oracle  for  the  victory,  receiving  the  expenses 
therefor  from  the  public  funds) ;  ninety-one  were  Lacedaemonians, 
and  sixteen  were  men  of  Tegea. 

Astonishing,  therefore,  is  the  statement  of  Herodotus,  where  he 
says  that  these  one  hundred  fifty-nine  represented  the  only  Hellenes 
who  engaged  the  enemy,  and  that  not  one  of  the  rest  did  so. 
Surely  the  total  number  of  those  who  fell,  as  well  as  the  monuments 
erected  over  them,  testifies  that  the  success  was  a  common  one. 
Besides,  had  the  men  of  three  cities  only  made  the  contest,  while 
the  rest  sat  idly  by,  the  altar  would  not  have  been  inscribed  as 
it  was  : 

Here  did  the  Hellenes,  flushed  with  a  victory  granted  by  Ares 
Over  the  routed  Persians,  together,  for  Hellas  delivered, 
Build  them  an  altar  of  Zeus,  Zeus  as  Deliverer  known. 

8.  MYCALE 

The  navy  in  the  meantime  had  not  been  idle.  The  victory  at 
Mycale  took  place  on  the  same  day  as  the  battle  of  Platsea.  This 
freed  a  good  part  of  the  Aegean  from  Persian  dominion. 

Herodotus,  IX,  96-97,  loo-ioi,  106 

The  Greeks,  as  soon  as  the  victims  were  favourable,  put  to  sea, 
and  sailed  across  from  Delos  to  Samos.  Arriving  off  Calami,  a 
place  upon  the  Samian  coast,  they  brought  the  fleet  to  an  anchor 
near  the  temple  of  Hera  which  stands  there,  and  prepared  to  en- 
gage the  Persians  by  sea.  These  latter,  however,  no  sooner  heard 
of  the  approach  of  the  Greeks,  than,  dismissing  the  Phoenician 
ships,  they  sailed  away  with  the  remainder  to  the  mainland.  For 
it  had  been  resolved  in  council  not  to  risk  a  battle,  since  the  Persian 
fleet  was  thought  to  be  no  match  for  that  of  the  enemy.  They  fled, 
therefore,  to  the  main,  to  be  under  the  protection  of  their  land 


224  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

army,  which  now  lay  at  Mycale,  and  consisted  of  the  troops  left 
behind  by  Xerxes  to  keep  guard  over  Ionia.  This  was  an  army  of 
sixty  thousand  men,  under  the  command  of  Tigranes,  a  Persian  of 
more  than  common  beauty  and  stature.  The  captains  resolved  there- 
fore to  betake  themselves  to  these  troops  for  defence,  to  drag  their 
ships  ashore,  and  to  build  a  rampart  around  them,  which  might  at 
once  protect  the  fleet,  and  serve  likewise  as  a  place  of  refuge  for 
themselves. 

Having  so  resolved,  the  commanders  put  out  to  sea ;  and  pass- 
ing the  temple  of  the  Eumenides,  arrived  at  Gseson  and  Scolopoeis, 
which  are  in  the  territory  of  Mycale.  Here  is  a  temple  of  Eleu- 
sinian  Demeter,  built  by  Philistus  the  son  of  Pasicles,  who  came  to 
Asia  with  Neileus  the  son  of  Codrus,  what  time  he  founded  Mile- 
tus. At  this  place  they  drew  the  ships  up  on  the  beach,  and  sur- 
rounded them  with  a  rampart  made  of  stones  and  trunks  of  trees, 
cutting  down  for  this  purpose  all  the  fruit-trees  which  grew  near, 
and  defending  the  barrier  by  means  of  stakes  firmly  planted  in  the 
ground.  Here  they  were  prepared  either  to  win  a  battle,  or  undergo 
a  siege  —  their  thoughts  embracing  both  chances.   .  .  . 

The  Greeks  now,  having  finished  their  preparations,  began  to 
move  towards  the  barbarians ;  when,  lo !  as  they  advanced,  a 
rumour  flew  through  the  host  from  one  end  to  the  other  —  that 
the  Greeks  had  fought  and  conquered  the  army  of  Mardonius  in 
Boeotia.  At  the  same  time  a  herald's  wand  was  observed  lying  upon 
the  beach.  Many  things  prove  to  me  that  the  gods  take  part  in  the 
affairs  of  man.  How  else,  when  the  battles  of  Mycale  and  Plataea 
were  about  to  happen  on  the  selfsame  day,  should  such  a  rumour 
have  reached  the  Greeks  in  that  region,  greatly  cheering  the 
whole  army,  and  making  them  more  eager  than  before  to  risk 
their  lives. 

A  strange  coincidence  too  it  was,  that  both  the  battles  should 
have  been  fought  near  a  precinct  of  Eleusinian  Demeter.  The  fight 
at  Plataea  took  place,  as  I  said  before,  quite  close  to  one  of  Demeter's 
temples  ;  and  now  the  battle  at  Mycale  was  to  be  fought  hard  by 
another.  Rightly,  too,  did  the  rumour  run,  that  the  Greeks  with 
Pausanias  Jiad  gained  their  victory ;  for  the  fight  at  Plataea  fell 
early  in  the  day,  whereas  that  at  Mycale  was  towards  evening. 


WARS   AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  225 

That  the  two  battles  were  really  fought  on  the  same  day  of  the 
same  month  became  apparent  when  inquiries  were  made  a  short 
time  afterwards.  Before  the  rumour  reached  them,  the  Greeks 
were  full  of  fear,  not  so  much  on  their  own  account,  as  for  their 
countrymen,  and  for  Greece  herself,  lest  she  should  be  worsted  in 
her  struggle  with  Mardonius.  But  when  the  voice  fell  on  them, 
their  fear  vanished,  and  they  charged  more  vigorously  and  at  a 
quicker  pace.  So  the  Greeks  and  the  barbarians  rushed  with  like 
eagerness  to  the  fray  ;  for  the  Hellespont  and  the  Islands  formed 
the  prize  for  which  they  were  about  to  jfight.  .  .  . 

The  Greeks,  when  they  had  slaughtered  the  greater  portion  of 
the  barbarians,  either  in  the  battle  or  in  the  rout,  set  fire  to  their 
ships  and  burnt  them,  together  with  the  bulwark  which  had  been 
raised  for  their  defence,  first  however  removing  therefrom  all  the 
booty,  and  carrying  it  down  to  the  beach.  Besides  other  plunder, 
they  found  here  many  caskets  of  money.  When  they  had  burnt 
the  rampart  and  the  vessels,  the  Greeks  sailed  away  to  Samos,  and 
there  took  counsel  together  concerning  the  lonians,  whom  they 
thought  of  removing  out  of  Asia.  Ionia  they  proposed  to  abandon 
to  the  barbarians  ;  and  their  doubt  was,  in  what  part  of  their  own 
possessions  in  Greece  they  should  settle  its  inhabitants.  For  it 
seemed  to  them  a  thing  impossible  that  they  should  be  ever  on  the 
watch  to  guard  and  protect  Ionia  ;  and  yet  otherwise  there  could 
be  no  hope  that  the  lonians  would  escape  the  vengeance  of  the 
Persians.  Hereupon  the  Peloponnesian  leaders  proposed,  that  the 
seaport  towns  of  such  Greeks  as  had  sided  with  the  Medes  should 
be  taken  away  from  them,  and  made  over  to  the  lonians.  The 
Athenians,  on  the  other  hand,  were  very  unwilling  that  any  re- 
moval at  all  should  take  place,  and  misliked  the  Peloponnesians 
holding  councils  concerning  their  colonists.  So,  as  they  set  them- 
selves against  the  change,  the  Peloponnesians  yielded  with  a  good 
will.  Hereupon  the  Samians,  Chians,  Lesbians,  and  other  islanders, 
who  had  helped  the  Greeks  at  this  time,  were  received  into  the 
league  of  the  allies  ;  and  took  the  oaths,  binding  themselves  to  be 
faithful,  and  not  desert  the  common  cause.  Then  the  Greeks  sailed 
away  to  the  Hellespont,  where  they  meant  to  break  down  the  bridges, 
which  they  supposed  to  be  still  extended  across  the  strait. 


226  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

9.    IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  ATHENS 

Thucydides  in  the  following  passage  sums  up  the  Athenians'  own 
statement  of  their  services  to  Greece  during  the  Persian  Wars. 

Thucydides,  I,  73-74 

"  But  to  the  Median  war  and  contemporary  history  we  must  refer, 
although  we  are  rather  tired  of  continually  bringing  this  subject 
forward.  In  our  action  during  that  war  we  ran  great  risk  to  obtain 
certain  advantages :  you  had  your  share  in  the  solid  results,  do  not 
try  to  rob  us  of  all  share  in  the  good  that  the  glory  may  do  us. 
However,  the  story  shall  be  told  not  so  much  to  deprecate  hostility 
as  to  testify  against  it,  and  to  show,  if  you  are  so  ill-advised  as  to 
enter  into  a  struggle  with  Athens,  what  sort  of  an  antagonist  she 
is  likely  to  prove.  We  assert  that  at  Marathon  we  were  at  the 
front,  and  faced  the  barbarian  single-handed.  That  when  he  came 
the  second  time,  unable  to  cope  with  him  by  land  we  went  on 
board  our  ships  with  all  our  people,  and  joined  in  the  action  at 
Salamis.  This  prevented  his  taking  the  Peloponnesian  states  in 
detail,  and  ravaging  them  with  his  fleet ;  when  the  multitude  of 
his  vessels  would  have  made  any  combination  for  self-defence  im- 
possible. The  best  proof  of  this  was  furnished  by  the  invader  him- 
self. Defeated  at  sea,  he  considered  his  power  to  be  no  longer 
what  it  had  been,  and  retired  as  speedily  as  possible  with  the 
greater  part  of  his  army. 

"  Such,  then,  was  the  result  of  the  matter,  and  it  was  clearly 
proved  that  it  was  on  the  fleet  of  Hellas  that  her  cause  depended. 
Well,  to  this  result  we  contributed  three  very  useful  elements,  viz. 
the  largest  number  of  ships,  the  ablest  commander,  and  the  most 
unhesitating  patriotism.  Our  contingent  of  ships  was  little  less 
than  two-thirds  of  the  whole  four  hundred  ;  the  commander  was 
Themistocles,  through  whom  chiefly  it  was  that  the  battle  took 
place  in  the  straits,  the  acknowledged  salvation  of  our  cause. 
Indeed,  this  was  the  reason  of  your  receiving  him  with  honours 
such  as  had  never  been  accorded  to  any  foreign  visitor.  While  for 
daring  patriotism  we  had  no  competitors.  Receiving  no  reinforce- 
ments from  behind,  seeing  everything  in  front  of  us  already  sub- 
jugated, we  had  th€  spirit,  after  abandoning  our  city,  after  sacrificing 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  227 

our  property  (instead  of  deserting  the  remainder  of  the  league  or 
depriving  them  of  our  services  by  dispersing),  to  throw  ourselves 
into  our  ships  and  meet  the  danger,  without  a  thought  of  resent- 
ing your  neglect  to  assist  us.  We  assert,  therefore,  that  we  con- 
ferred on  you  quite  as  much  as  we  received.  For  you  had  a  stake 
to  fight  for  ;  the  cities  which  you  had  left  were  still  filled  with  your 
homes,  and  you  had  the  prospect  of  enjoying  them  again  ;  and 
your  coming  was  prompted  quite  as  much  by  fear  for  yourselves 
as  for  us ;  at  all  events,  you  never  appeared  till  we  had  nothing 
left  to  lose.  But  we  left  behind  us  a  city  that  was  a  city  no  longer, 
and  staked  our  lives  for  a  city  that  had  an  existence  only  in  des- 
perate hope,  and  so  bore  our  full  share  in  your  deliverance  and  in 
ours.  But  if  we  had  copied  others,  and  allowed  fears  for  our  ter- 
ritory to  make  us  give  in  our  adhesion  to  the  Mede  before  you 
came,  or  if  we  had  suffered  our  ruin  to  break  our  spirit  and  pre- 
vent us  embarking  in  our  ships,  your  naval  inferiority  would  have 
made  a  sea-fight  unnecessary,  and  his  objects  would  have  been 
peaceably  attained." 

10.  TIIEMISTOCLES 

The  Athenians  with  customary  fickleness  refused  to  stand  by 
Themistocles  during  the  latter  part  of  his  career,  and  in  a  spirit 
of  basest  ingratitude  had  him  banished. 

Probably  few  men  in  history  who  have  rendered  enormous  serv- 
ices to  their  country  have  been  reviled  more  than  he.  One  of  his 
most  spiteful  critics  was  Timocreon  of  Rhodes,  whose  witty  though 
manifestly  unfair  abuse  spread  like  wildfire.  His  own  statement 
shows  him  to  have  been  anything  but  unprejudiced,  and  he  did 
much  harm  to  the  reputation  of  Themistocles.  When,  however, 
we  consider  the  judgment  of  two  of  the  keenest  critics  of  antiquity, 
Plutarch  and  especially  Thucydides,  and  see  how  they  estimated 
the  great  Athenian's  ability  and  achievements  we  can  relegate 
Timocreon  to  the  obscurity  from  which  he  ought  never  to  have 
emerged. 


228  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Plutarch,  Theniistodes,  20-21 

When  the  Lacedaemonians  proposed,  at  the  general  council  of  the 
Amphictyonians,  that  the  representatives  of  those  cities  which  were 
not  in  the  league,  nor  had  fought  against  the  Persians,  should  be 
excluded,  Themistocles,  fearing  that  the  Thessalians,  with  those  of 
Thebes,  Argos,  and  others,  being  thrown  out  of  the  council,  the  Lace- 
daemonians would  become  wholly  masters  of  the  votes,  and  do  what 
they  pleased,  supported  the  deputies  of  the  cities,  and  prevailed  with 
the  members  then  sitting  to  alter  their  opinion  on  this  point,  showing 
them  that  there  were  but  one-and-thirty  cities  which  had  partaken  in 
the  war,  and  that  most  of  these,  also,  were  very  small ;  how  intoler- 
able would  it  be,  if  the  rest  of  Greece  should  be  excluded,  and  the 
general  council  should  come  to  be  ruled  by  two  or  three  great  cities. 
By  this,  chiefly,  he  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  Lacedaemonians, 
whose  honours  and  favours  were  now  shown  to  Cimon,  with  a  view 
to  making  him  the  opponent  of  the  state  policy  of  Themistocles. 

He  was  also  burdensome  to  the  confederates,  sailing  about  the 
islands  and  collecting  money  from  them.  Herodotus  says,  that, 
requiring  money  of  those  of  the  island  of  Andros,  he  told  them 
that  he  had  brought  with  him  two  goddesses,  Persuasion  and 
Force ;  and  they  answered  him  that  they  had  also  two  great  god- 
desses, which  prohibited  them  from  giving  him  any  money.  Pov- 
erty and  Impossibility,  Timocreon,  the  Rhodian  poet,  reprehends 
him  somewhat  bitterly  for  being  wrought  upon  by  money  to  let 
some  who  were  banished  return,  while  abandoning  himself,  who 
was  his  guest  and  friend.    The  verses  are  these :  — 

Pausanias  you  may  praise,  and  Xanthippus,  he  be  for, 
For  Leutychidas,  a  third ;  Aristides,  I  proclaim, 
From  the  sacred  Athens  came. 

The  one  true  man  of  all ;  for  Themistocles  Latona  doth  abhor. 
The  liar,  traitor,  cheat,  who  to  gain  his  filthy  pay, 
Timocreon,  his  friend,  neglected  to  restore 
To  his  native  Rhodian  shore ; 

Three  silver  talents  took,  and  departed  (curses  with  him)  on  his  way. 
Restoring  people  here,  expelling  there,  and  killing  here, 
Filling  evermore  his  purse :  and  at  the  Isthmus  gave  a  treat. 
To  be  laughed  at,  of  cold  meat. 

Which  they  ate,  and  prayed  the  gods  some  one  else  might  give  the  feast 
another  year. 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE          229 

But  after  the  sentence  and  banishment  of  Themistocles,  Timo- 
creon  reviles  him  yet  more  immoderately  and  wildly  in  a  poem 
that  begins  thus  :  — 

Unto  all  the  Greeks  repair, 

O  Muse,  and  tell  these  verses  there, 

As  is  fitting  and  is  fair. 

The  story  is,  that  it  was  put  to  the  question  whether  Timocreon 
should  be  banished  for  siding  with  the  Persians,  and  Themistocles 
gave  his  vote  against  him.  So  when  Themistocles  was  accused  of  in- 
triguing with  the  Medes,  Timocreon  made  these  lines  upon  him  :  — 

So  now  Timocreon,  indeed,  is  not  the  sole  friend  of  the  Mede, 
There  are  some  knaves  besides ;  nor  is  it  only  mine  that  fails. 
But  other  foxes  have  lost  tails.  — 

Plutarch,  Themistocles,  22 

At  length  the  Athenians  banished  him,  making  use  of  the 
ostracism  to  humble  his  eminence  and  authority,  as  they  ordi- 
narily did  with  all  whom  they  thought  too  powerful,  or,  by  their 
greatness,  disproportionable  to  the  equality  thought  requisite  in  a 
popular  government.  For  the  ostracism  was  instituted,  not  so 
much  to  punish  the  offender,  as  to  mitigate  and  pacify  the  vio- 
lence of  the  envious,  who  delighted  to  humble  eminent  men;  and 
who,  by  fixing  this  disgrace  upon  them,  might  vent  some  part  of 
their  rancour, 

Plutarch,  Themistocles,  17 

Herodotus  writes,  that  of  all  the  cities  of  Greece,  ^gina  was 
held  to  have  performed  the  best  service  in  the  war  ;  while  all  single 
men  yielded  to  Themistocles,  though,  out  of  envy,  unwillingly  ;  and 
when  they  returned  to  the  entrance  of  Peloponnesus,  where  the 
several  commanders  delivered  their  suffrages  at  the  altar,  to  deter- 
mine who  was  most  worthy,  every  one  gave  the  first  vote  for  him- 
self and  the  second  for  Themistocles.  The  Lacedaemonians  carried 
him  with  them  to  Sparta,  where,  giving  the  rewards  of  valour  to 
Eurybiades,  and  of  wisdom  and  conduct  to  Themistocles,  they 
crowned  him  with  olive,  presented  him  with  the  best  chariot  in  the 
city,  and  sent  three  hundred  young  men  to  accompany  him  to  the 


230  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

confines  of  their  country.  And  at  the  next  Olympic  games,  when 
Themistocles  entered  the  course,  the  spectators  took  no  farther 
notice  of  those  who  were  contesting  the  prizes,  but  spent  the  whole 
day  in  looking  upon  him,  showing  him  to  the  strangers,  admiring 
him,  and  applauding  him  by  clapping  their  hands,  and  other  ex- 
pressions of  joy,  so  that  he  himself,  much  gratified,  confessed  to 
his  friends  that  he  then  reaped  the  fruit  of  all  his  labours  for 
the  Greeks. 

J^aiisaiiias,  VIII,  1,  3 

Not  long  afterwards,  when  the  Argives  were  celebrating  the 
Nemean  games,  it  chanced  that  Philopoemen  was  present  at  the 
competition  of  the  minstrels.  Pylades,  a  native  of  Megalopolis,  and 
the  most  famous  minstrel  of  his  time,  who  had  gained  a  Pythian 
victory,  was  singing  an  air  of  Timotheus  the  Milesian,  called  "  The 
Persians."    Scarcely  had  he  struck  up  the  song  — 

The  glorious  crown  of  freedom  who  giveth  to  Greece  — 

when  all  the  people  turned  and  looked  at  Philopoemen,  and  with 
clapping  of  hands  signified  that  the  song  referred  to  him.  I  have 
heard  that  much  the  same  thing  happened  to  Themistocles  at 
Olympia  :  the  people  in  the  theatre  stood  up  to  do  him  honour. 

T/iiuydides,  I,  138 

For  Themistocles  was  a  man  who  exhibited  the  most  indubitable 
signs  of  genius  ;  indeed,  in  this  particular  he  has  a  claim  on  our 
admiration  quite  extraordinary  and  unparalleled.  By  his  own  native 
capacity,  alike  unformed  and  unsupplemented  by  study,  he  was  at 
once  the  best  judge  in  those  sudden  crises  which  admit  of  little  or 
of  no  deliberation,  and  the  best  prophet  of  the  future,  even  to  its 
most  distant  possibilities.  An  able  theoretical  expositor  of  all  that 
came  within  the  sphere  of  his  practice,  he  was  not  without  the 
power  of  passing  an  adequate  judgment  in  matters  in  which  he  had 
no  experience.  He  could  also  excellently  divine  the  good  and  evil 
which  lay  hid  in  the  unseen  future.  In  fine,  whether  we  consider 
the  extent  of  his  natural  powers,  or  the  slightness  of  his  application, 
this  extraordinary  man  must  be  allowed  to  have  surpassed  all  others 
in  the  faculty  of  intuitively  meeting  an  emergency. 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE          231 
II.    The  Western  Greeks 

1.  RISE  OF  GELON 

While  these  stirring  events  were  taking  place  in  Greece,  the  Greek 
settlements  in  Sicily  were  the  scene  of  great  activity.  Gelon  had 
become  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  with  many  cities  under  his  sway,  and  he 
was  sought  as  an  ally  against  Persia.  Circumstances  in  Sicily,  the 
rivalry  of  other  cities,  the  impending  invasion  by  Carthage,  and 
the  troubles  with  the  Etruscans  made  it  impossible  to  comply  with 
the  request.    Gelon  was  successful  in  all  these  affairs  at  home. 

He  and  his  family  were  very  rich  and  generous  and  sent  fine 
offerings  to  Olympia  and  Delphi.  Some  were  for  victories  in  war, 
others  for  victories  in  the  games,  particularly  in  horse-races. 
Several  of  the  most  splendid  of  Pindar's  odes  were  written  to 
commemorate  these  victories. 

Herodotus,  VII,  155-156 

When,  however,  Hippocrates,  after  a  reign  of  the  same  length 
as  that  of  Cleander  his  brother,  perished  near  the  city  Hybla,  as 
he  was  warring  with  the  native  Sicilians,  then  Gelo,  pretending  to 
espouse  the  cause  of  the  two  sons  of  Hippocrates,  Eucleides  and 
Cleander,  defeated  the  citizens  who  were  seeking  to  recover  their 
freedom,  and  having  so  done,  set  aside  the  children,  and  himself 
took  the  kingly  power.  After  this  piece  of  good  fortune,  Gelo  like- 
wise became  master  of  Syracuse,  in  the  following  manner.  The 
Syracusan  landholders,  as  they  were  called,  had  been  driven  from 
their  city  by  the  common  people  assisted  by  their  own  slaves,  the 
Cyllyrians,  and  had  fled  to  Casmenae.  Gelo  brought  them  back 
to  Syracuse,  and  so  got  possession  of  the  town  ;  for  the  people 
surrendered  themselves,  and  gave  up  their  city  on  his  approach. 

Being  now  master  of  Syracuse,  Gelo  cared  less  to  govern  Gela, 
which  he  therefore  entrusted  to  his  brother  Hiero,  while  he  strength- 
ened the  defences  of  his  new  city,  which  indeed  was  now  all  in  all 
to  him.  And  Syracuse  sprang  up  rapidly  to  power  and  became 
a  flourishing  place.    For  Gelo  razed  Camarina  to  the  ground,  and 


232  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

brought  all  the  inhabitants  to  Syracuse,  and  made  them  citizens ; 
he  also  brought  thither  more  than  half  the  citizens  of  Gela,  and  gave 
them  the  same  rights  as  the  Camarinaeans.  So  likewise  with  the 
Megarians  of  Sicily  —  after  besieging  their  town  and  forcing  them 
to  surrender,  he  took  the  rich  men,  who,  having  made  the  war, 
looked  now  for  nothing  less  than  death  at  his  hands,  and  carrying 
them  to  Syracuse,  established  them  there  as  citizens ;  while  the 
common  people,  who,  as  they  had  not  taken  any  share  in  the 
struggle,  felt  secure  that  no  harm  would  be  done  to  them,  he  carried 
likewise  to  Syracuse,  where  he  sold  them  all  as  slaves  to  be  conveyed 
abroad.  He  did  the  like  also  by  the  Euboeans  of  Sicily,  making 
the  same  difference.  His  conduct  towards  both  nations  arose  from 
his  belief,  that  a  "  people  "  was  a  most  unpleasant  companion.  In 
this  way  Gelo  became  a  great  king. 

2.  VICTORIES   OVER   CARTHAGE   AND   THE    ETRUSCANS 
Herodotus,  VII,  165-166 

They,  however,  who  dwell  in  Sicily,  say  that  Gelo,  though  he  knew 
that  he  must  serve  under  the  Lacedaemonians,  would  nevertheless 
have  come  to  the  aid  of  the  Greeks,  had  not  it  been  for  Terillus, 
the  son  of  Crinippus,  king  of  Himera ;  who,  driven  from  his  city  by 
Thero,  the  son  of  yEnesidemus,  king  of  Agrigentum,  brought  into 
Sicily  at  this  very  time  an  army  of  three  hundred  thousand  men, 
Phoenicians,  Libyans,  Iberians,  Ligurians,  Helisycians,  Sardinians, 
and  Corsicans,  under  the  command  of  Hamilcar  the  son  of  Hanno, 
king  of  the  Carthaginians.  Terillus  prevailed  upon  Hamilcar,  partly 
as  his  sworn  friend,  but  more  through  the  zealous  aid  of  Anaxilaus 
the  son  of  Cretines,  king  of  Rhegium  ;  who,  by  giving  his  own  sons 
to  Hamilcar  as  hostages,  induced  him  to  make  the  expedition.  An- 
axilaus herein  served  his  own  father-in-law  ;  for  he  was  married  to  a 
daughter  of  Terillus,  by  name  Cydippe.  So,  as  Gelo  could  not  give 
the  Greeks  any  aid,  he  sent  (they  say)  the  sum  of  money  to  Delphi. 

They  say  too,  that  the  victory  of  Gelo  and  Thero  in  Sicily  over 
Hamilcar  the  Carthaginian,  fell  out  upon  the  very  day  that  the 
Greeks  defeated  the  Persians  at  Salamis.  Hamilcar,  who  was  a 
Carthaginian  on  his  father's  side  only,  but  on  his  mother's  a  Syra- 
cusan,  and  who  had  been  raised  by  his  merit  to  the  throne  of 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  233 

Carthage,  after  the  battle  and  the  defeat,  as  I  am  informed,  dis- 
appeared from  sight :  Gelo  made  the  strictest  search  for  him,  but 
he  could  not  be  found  anywhere,  either  dead  or  alive. 

Diodonts  Sicnlus,  XI,  51  (tr.  Booth,  Vol.  I,  p.  401) 

When  Acestorides  was  archon  at  Athens,  and  Cassio  Fabius  and 
T.  Virginius  consuls  of  Rome,  at  that  time  Hiero  king  of  Syracuse 
(at  the  request  of  the  citizens  of  Cuma  in  Italy,  by  their  ambassa- 
dors, who  were  greatly  annoyed  by  the  Etruscans)  sent  a  consider- 
able fleet  to  their  assistance,  who  joining  battle  with  the  Etruscans 
of  Tyrrhenia,  in  a  sea-fight  sunk  several  of  their  ships,  and  obtained 
a  complete  victory,  and  so  the  power  of  the  Etruscans  being  broken, 
they  returned  to  Syracuse. 

At  the  sumptuous  courts  of  Gelon  and  of  Hieron  were  gathered 
many  of  the  most  famous  writers  of  Greece.  Even  from  a  very  early 
date  Sicily  was  identified  with  poets,  but  at  this  time  yEschylus,  Pin- 
dar, Simonides,  Bacchylides  (to  mention  only  a  few)  frequented 
the  courts  of  the  tyrants  of  Sicily. 

Pindar,  Pyth.,  I,  71 

I  pray  thee,  son  of  Kronos,  grant  that  the  Phoenician  and  the 
Tuscan  war-cry  be  hushed  at  home,  since  they  have  beheld  the 
calamity  of  their  ships  that  befell  them  before  Cumae,  even  how 
they  were  smitten  by  the  captain  of  the  Syracusans,  who  from  their 
swift  ships  hurled  their  youth  into  the  sea,  to  deliver  Hellas  from 
the  bondage  of  the  oppressor. 

Pindar,  01.,  VI,  92 

And  bid  them  make  mention  of  Syracuse  and  Ortygia,  which 
Hieron  ruleth  with  righteous  sceptre  devising  true  counsels,  and 
doth  honour  to  Demeter  whose  footsteps  make  red  the  corn,  and  to 
the  feast  of  her  daughter  with  white  steeds,  and  to  the  might  of 
Aetnaean  Zeus.  Also  he  is  well  known  of  the  sweet  voices  of  the 
song  and  lute.  Let  not  the  on-coming  time  break  his  good  fortune. 
And  with  joyful  welcome  may  he  receive  this  triumphal  song, 
which  travelteth  from  home  to  home,  leaving  Stymphalos'  walls, 
the  mother-city  of  Arcadia,  rich  in  flocks. 


234  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Pindar,  Pyth.,  Ill,  68 

And  then  in  a  ship  would  I  have  sailed,  cleaving  the  Ionian  sea, 
to  the  fountain  of  Arethusa,  to  the  home  of  my  Aitnaian  friend, 
who  ruleth  at  Syracuse,  a  king  of  good  will  to  the  citizens,  not 
envious  of  the  good,  to  strangers  wondrous  fatherly.  Had  I  but 
landed  there  and  brought  unto  him  a  twofold  joy,  first  golden 
health  and  next  this  my  song  of  triumph  to  be  a  splendour  in  his 
Pythian  crown,  which  of  late  Pherenikos  won  by  his  victory  at 
Kirrha  —  I  say  that  then  should  I  have  come  unto  him,  after 
that  I  had  passed  over  the  deep  sea,  a  farther-shining  light  than 
any  heavenly  star. 

The  following  inscriptions  were  on  bases  at  Delphi  which 
formerly  supported   tripods. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  1 6 

Gelon  the  Syracusan,  son  of  Dinomenes,  dedicated  (these)  to 
Apollo.  Bion  the  Milesian,  son  of  Diodorus,  made  the  tripod  and 
the  Victory. 

Simof  tides,  141 

I  say  that  Gelon,  Hieron,  Polyzalus,  Thrasybulus,  sons  of  Di- 
nomenes, set  up  the  tripod  when  they  had  defeated  the  barbarian 
nations,  and  that  they  held  out  the  hand  of  a  strong  ally  to  the 
Greeks  in  the  struggle  for  freedom. ^ 

Among  the  most  famous  inscriptions  extant  is  this  one  on  a 
bronze  helmet  now  in  the  British  Museum  (Walters,  "  Catalogue 
of  Bronzes,"  250). 

Hicks  and  Hill,  22 

Hieron  son  of  Dinomenes  and  the  Syracusans  to  Zeus,  these 
Etruscan  spoils  from  Cyme. 

Sinionides,  109 

Those  who  were  bringing  to  Phoebus  the  first  fruits  from  the 
Tyrrhenians,^  one  sea,  one  night,  one  grave  buried  with  due  honours. 

1  Diodorus,  XI,  xxvi,  7,  mentions  four  tripods  offered  out  of  the  Carthaginian  spoils. 
On  the  epigram  of  Simonides  see  Hicks  and  Hill,  16  and  note. 

2  Bergk  reads  "  Sparta." 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE 


^oi 


Pausafiias,  VHI,  xlii,  g 

For  at  the  time  when  Xerxes  crossed  into  Europe,  Gelo,  son  of 
Dinomenes,  was  tyrant  of  Syracuse  and  of  all  the  rest  of  Sicily ; 
but  when  Gelo  died,  the  sovereignty  devolved  on  his  brother  Hiero  ; 
and  as  Hiero  died  before  he  dedicated  to  Olympian  Zeus  the  offer- 
ings which  he  had  vowed  for  his  victories  in  the  chariot-race,  they 
were  offered  by  his  son  Dinomenes  in  his  stead.  These  offerings 
are  also  works  of  Onatas  ;  and  there  are  inscriptions  at  Olympia. 
The  one  over  the  votive  offering  is  this  :  — 

For  his  victories  in  thy  august  contest,  Olympian  Zeus, 
One  victory  with  the  four-horse  car,  and  two  with  the  race-horse, 
Hiero  bestowed  these  gifts  on  thee :  they  were  dedicated  by  his  son, 
Dinomenes,  in  memory  of  his  Syracusan  sire. 

The  other  inscription  runs  :  — 

Onatas,  son  of  Micon,  wrought  me : 

He  dwelt  in  a  house  in  the  isle  of  Aegina. 


III.    Various  Battles  of  the  Persian  War 

The  following  poems  are  selections  from  the  writings  of  Simon- 
ides  in  commemoration  of  various  battles  during  the  contest. 

Fragments  of  Simoxides 
£pig.  90 

The  Athenians,  fighting  in  the  van  of  the  Greeks  at  Marathon, 
brought  low  the  power  of  the  Medes,  decked  in  gold. 

Me,  the  goat-footed,  Arcadian  Pan,  who  stood  against  Persia, 
fighting  for  the  Athenians,  Miltiades  placed  here. 

Lyric  frag.  4 

Of  those  who  died  at  Thermopylae  glorious  is  the  fate  and  fair 
the  destiny.  No  tomb  for  them,  but  an  altar ;  no  tears,  but  fame 
instead,  and,  for  lamentation,  praise.  A  monument  like  this,  rust 
shall  not  corrupt  nor  time  that  destroys  all  else.    (Tr.  Wright.) 

This  sepulchre  of  valiant  men  has  received  the  fair  fame  of 
Hellas  to  dwell  therein  ;  and  a  witness  is  Leonidas  the  Spartan 
king  who  has  left  a  great  glory  of  valour  and  eternal  fame. 


236  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Epig.  91 

Here  once  four  thousand  from  Peloponnesus  fought  against 
three  hundred  thousand. 

Epig.  92  (tr.  Murray) 

Stranger,  bear  word  to  the  Spartans  that  we  He  here  obedient 
to  their  charge. 

Epig.  94 

This  is  the  monument  of  famous  Megistias,  whom  the  Medes 
slew  when  they  left  the  Spercheus  river,  a  prophet,  who  knowing 
well  the  fates  that  were  to  come,  had  not  the  heart  to  abandon 
the  leaders  of  Sparta. 

Epig.  95 

Glorious  the  soil,  Leonidas,  king  of  spacious  Sparta,  that  covers 
those  who  died  here  with  you  when  they  had  withstood  the  shock 
of  many  arrows  and  of  swift-footed  horses  and  men  of  the  Medes 
in  war. 

Epig  93 

Opous,  mother-city  of  the  Locrians  with  their  just  laws,  mourns 
for  those  who  perished  on  behalf  of  Hellas  against  the  Medes. 

Epig.  13s 

After  the  Athenians  had  defeated  the  hosts  of  men  of  every  race 
from  the  land  of  Asia  in  a  naval  battle  once  in  this  sea,  when  the 
army  of  the  Medes  had  perished,  they  dedicated  these  memorials 
to  the  virgin  Artemis. 

Epig.  96 

Stranger,  once  we  dwelt  in  the  well-watered  citadel  of  Corinth, 
but  now  Salamis,  the  island  of  Ajax,  holds  us.  Here  we  destroyed 
the  Phoenician  and  Persian  ships  and  the  Medes,  and  rescued 
holy   Hellas. 

Epig.  97 

All  Hellas  balanced  on  the  razor's  edge  we  saved  from  slavery 
with  our  own  lives,  and  here  we  lie.    But  we  fastened  on  the  proud 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE          237 

Persians  all  sorts  of  ills,  memories  of  the  hard  sea-fight.  Though 
Salamis  holds  our  bones,  Corinth  our  fatherland  has  set  up  this 
memorial  for  our  service. 

Epig.  98 

This  is  the  grave  of  that  Adimantus  through  whose  counsel 
Hellas  crovi^ned  herself  with  freedom. 

Epig.  136 

Democritus  was  the  third  leader  in  the  battle,  when  the  Greeks 
by  Salamis  engaged  with  the  Medes  upon  the  sea ;  he  took  and 
destroyed  five  ships,  and  a  sixth,  a  Dorian  boat,  he  saved  from 
capture  by  barbarian  hands. 

Epig.  134 

These  weapons  of  the  hostile  Medes  the  sailors  of  Diodorus 
dedicated  to  Leto  as  a  memento  of  the  naval  battle. 

Epig.  139 

The  saviours  of  the  broad  land  of  Hellas  dedicated  this  tripod, 
when  they  had  freed  their  cities  from  hateful  slavery. 

Epig  84 

And  in  the  midst  of  the  fighters  those  who  inhabit  Ephyre,  with 
many  springs,  well  versed  in  all  valorous  deeds  of  war,  and  those 
who  dwell  in  the  city  of  Glaucus,  the  citadel  of  Corinth,  who  have 
as  fairest  witness  of  their  struggles  the  golden  sun  shining  in  the 
ether,  which  will  exalt  the  broad-spread  fame  of  their  fathers  and 
themselves. 

Epig.  138 

Pausanias,  the  leader  of  the  Greeks,  when  he  had  destroyed  the 
army  of  the  Medes,  dedicated  this  memorial  to  Apollo. 

Epig.  140 

The  Greeks,  through  power  of  victory  by  the  work  of  Ares, 
trusting  in  the  brave  temper  of  their  souls,  when  they  had  driven 
out  the  Persians  set  up  this  altar  of  Zeus  of  Freedom  in  the  name 
of  free  Hellas. 


238  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Epig.  100  (tr.  Mackail) 

If  to  die  nobly  is  the  chief  part  of  excellence,  to  us  out  of  all 
men  Fortune  gave  this  lot ;  for  hastening  to  set  a  crown  of  free- 
dom on  Hellas,  we  lie  possessed  of  praise  that  grows  not  old. 

Epig.  99  (tr.  Mackail) 

These  men  having  set  a  crown  of  imperishable  glory  on  their 
own  land  were  folded  in  the  dark  cloud  of  death  ;  yet  being  dead 
they  have  not  died,  since  from  on  high  their  excellence  raises  them 
gloriously  out  of  the  house  of  Hades. 

Epig.  1 01 

The  sons  of  the  Athenians  who  drove  back  the  army  of  the 
Persians,  kept  off  bitter  slavery  from  their  country. 

Epig.  113 

When  I  behold  the  tomb  where  Megacles  lies  buried,  I  pity 
thee,  poor  Callias,  for  the  grief  thou  hast  to  bear. 

Epig.  143 

These  arrows  that  have  ceased  from  woeful  war  lie  under  cover 
in  the  temple  of  Athena,  often  indeed  amidst  the  battle's  grievous 
turmoil  in  the  combat  of  men  they  have  been  bathed  in  the  blood 
of  the  Persian  cavalry. 

Epig  137 

These  bronze  statues  of  women  who  prayed  on  behalf  of  Greece 
and  the  gallant  fighters  of  Corinth,  were  dedicated  to  divine  Cypris, 
for  the  goddess  Aphrodite  was  not  willing  to  hand  over  the  Acrop- 
olis of  the  Greeks  to  the  Medes. 

Epig.  105 

These  lost  their  glorious  youth  by  the  Eurymedon,  fighting 
against  the  archers  of  the  Medes,  warriors  on  land  and  on  the 
swift-wayed  ships  they  left  the  fairest  memorial  of  courage  when 
they  died. 

Epig.  106 

Pierce  Ares  in  a  shower  of  blood  once  bathed  his  long  pointed 
arrows  in  the  breasts  of  these  men  ;    but  this   dust  covers   the 


WARS  AGAINST  PERSIA  AND  CARTHAGE  239 

lifeless  remains  of  the  ever-living  dead,  in  memory  of  those  men 
who  bore  the  brunt  of  battle. 

Epig.  142 

From  the  time  when  the  sea  divided  Europe  asunder  from  Asia 
and  fierce  Ares  fell  upon  the  cities  of  mortals,  by  no  one  of  earth- 
dwelling  men  was  done  a  better  deed  on  land  and  sea  alike.  For 
these  men  on  land  destroyed  many  Medes  and  on  shore  the  sea  took 
a  hundred  Phoenician  ships  full  of  men,  and  Asia  groaned  bitterly, 
smitten  by  them  as  she  was  in  both  arms  by  the  force  of  war. 

Epig.  108 

Hail,  noblest,  with  your  great  glory  in  war,  sons  of  Athens  sur- 
passing in  horsemanship,  who  once  fighting  for  your  fair  land  lost 
your  young  lives  striving  against  very  many  of  the  Greeks. 

Epig.  102 

It  was  the  valor  of  these  men  that  kept  the  smoke  of  the  burn- 
ing of  wide-floored  Tegea  from  rising  to  heaven.  They  chose  to 
leave  the  city  in  the  beauty  of  liberty  to  their  children,  and  them- 
selves to  die  in  the  forefront  of  battle. 

Epig.  103 

Let  us  remember  the  valiant  men  whose  tomb  this  is,  who  died 
protecting  Tegea  rich  in  sheep  ;  spearsmen  for  their  city  that 
Hellas  might  not  perish  and  so  destroy  its  freedom. 

^SCHYLUS,  Epig.  3  (tr.  Mackail) 

These  men  also,  the  steadfast  among  spears,  dark  Fate  destroyed 
as  they  defended  their  native  land  rich  in  sheep  ;  but  they  being 
dead  their  glory  is  alive,  who  woefully  clad  their  limbs  in  the  dust 
of  Ossa. 

BIBLIOGRArHY 

Contemporary  Sources :  /Eschylus,  The  Persians,  Epitaph ;  Simonides,  Epi- 
grams, Fragments  ;  Pindar,  Odes,  Fragments  ;  Inscriptions. 

Derivative  Sources :  Herodotus,  I-VI  (to  the  invasion  of  Xerxes),  VII-IX 
(the  Persian  War);  Plutarch,  Themistocles,  Aristides;  Aristotle,  Constitution  of 
Athens  ;  Pausanias,  passim  ;  Thucydides,  I,  VI  (selections) ;  Nepos,  Miltiades  ; 
Diodorus,  XI ;  Xenophon,  Hiero. 


240  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Modern  Authorities  :  To  ^go  b.c, — Botsford,  History,  chap,  vi ;  Bury,  History, 
chap,  vi ;  Holm,  History,  Vol.  I,  chap,  xxiii ;  Vol.  II,  chap,  i ;  Busolt,  Griechische 
Geschichte,  Band  II,  Kap.  v,  §§  19-20 ;  Beloch,  Griechische  Geschichte,  Band  I, 
Abschnitt  XI  (Persian  War) ;  Abbott,  History,  Vol.  II,  chap,  i;  Oman,  History, 
chaps,  xiii,  xv ;  Curtius,  History,  Vol.  II,  Bk.  II,  chap,  v  ;  Grote,  History,  Vol.  IV, 
chaps,  xxxii-xxxv  ;  Cox,  Greeks  and  Persians,  chaps,  iii-v  ;  Bury,  "  The  European 
Expedition  of  Darius,"  in  CI.  AV?/.,  Vol.  XI  (1897),  pp.  277-2S2  ;  J.  A.  R.  Munro, 
"The  Campaign  of  Marathon,"  in  /.  //.  S.,  1899,  pp.  1S5-197. 

77?^  Persian  IVars, —  Botsford,  chap,  vii ;  Bury,  chap,  vii;  Holm,  Vol.  II,  chaps, 
ii-v  ;  Busolt,  Band  II,  Kap.  v,  §  21  ;  Beloch,  Band  I,  Abschnitt  XI ;  Abbott,  Vol.  II, 
chaps,  i-v ;  Oman,  chaps,  xvii-xx ;  Curtius,  Vol.  II,  Bk.  Ill,  chap,  i;  Grote, 
Vol.  IV,  chap,  xxxvi ;  Vol.  V,  chaps,  xxxviii-xlii ;  Cox,  chaps,  vi-viii ;  Munro, 
"  The  Campaigns  of  Xerxes,"/.  II.  S.,  1902,  pp.  294-332  ;  Goodwin,  "  The  Battle 
of  Salamis,"  Papers  of  the  American  School  of  Classical  Studies  at  Athens, 
Vol.  I,  1S82-1883,  pp.  239-262  ;  Grundy,  "The  Account  of  Salamis  in  Herodotus," 
/.  H.  S.,  1897,  pp.  230-240  ;  Grundy,  Topography  of  the  Battle  of  Plataea;  Munro, 
"The  Campaign  of  Platasa," /.  H.  S.,  1904,  pp.  144-165;  Woodhouse,  "The 
Greeks  at  Plataiai,"/.  U.S.,  1S9S,  pp.  33-59;  Grundy,  The  Great  Persian  War; 
Macan,  Herodotus  (a  monumental  work  containing  full  bibliography,  criticism, 
essays,  etc.) ;  W.  W.  Tarn,  "  The  Fleet  of  Xerxes,"/.  //.  S.,  1908,  pp.  202-233. 

The  Western  Greeks, —  Botsford,  chap,  vii ;  Bury,  chap,  vii ;  Holm,  Vol.  II,  chap, 
vi;  Holm,  Geschichte  Siciliens,  Band  I,  Buch  III,  Kap.  i-ii ;  Busolt,  Band  II, 
Kap.  V,  §22;  Abbott,  Vol.  II,  chap,  xii ;  Oman,  chap,  xxi;  Curtius,  Vol.  Ill, 
Bk.  IV,  chap,  iii;  Grote,  Vol.  V,  chap,  xliii;  Freeman,  History  of  Sicily,  Vol.  II, 
chaps,  v-vii ;  Freeman,  Story  of  Sicily,  chaps,  v-vi. 


CHAPTER   IX 

FROM  THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOFONNESIAN  WAR 

The  confederacy  and  the  empire  —  The  growth  of  Athens  —  The  leadership  of 
Athens  ;  assessment  —  Cimon,  admiral  and  statesman  —  Wars  with  other  cities  — 
Sparta — Conquest  of  .-Egina — Pericles  —  Early  career — Reduction  of  Euboea 
• — Colonizing  policy — Public  works  —  The  Athenian  navy— Foreign  policy  — 
Personal  rule  and  statesmanship  —  The  ideal  of  Pericles  for  Athens 

I.    The  Confederacy  axd  the  Empire 

1.  THE  GROWTH   OF  ATHENS 

Athens  had  shown  her  importance  and  abihty  during  the  Per- 
sian Wars  and  was  in  no  mood  to  return  to  a  position  inferior  to 
that  of  Sparta.  As  her  naval  power  had  been  responsible  for 
her  rise  she  determined  to  develop  it  to  the  utmost  and  secure 
supremacy  on  the  sea. 

Thucydides,  I,  18-19 

But  at  last  a  time  came  when  the  tyrants  of  Athens  and  the  far 
older  tyrannies  of  the  rest  of  Hellas  were,  with  the  exception  of 
those  in  Sicily,  once  and  for  all  put  down  by  Lacedaemon  ;  for 
this  city,  though  after  the  settlement  of  the  Dorians,  its  present 
inhabitants,  it  suffered  from  factions  for  an  unparalleled  length  of 
time,  still  at  a  very  early  period  obtained  good  laws,  and  enjoyed 
a  freedom  from  tyrants  which  was  unbroken  ;  it  has  possessed 
the  same  form  of  government  for  more  than  four  hundred  years, 
reckoning  to  the  end  of  the  late  war,  and  has  thus  been  in  a  posi- 
tion to  arrange  the  affairs  of  the  other  states.  Not  many  years 
after  the  deposition  of  the  tyrants,  the  battle  of  Marathon  was 
fought  between  the  Medes  and  the  Athenians.  Ten  years  after- 
wards the  barbarian  returned  with  the  armada  for  the  subjugation 
of  Hellas.  In  the  face  of  this  great  danger  the  command  of  the 
confederate  Hellenes  was  assumed  by  the  Lacedaemonians  in  virtue 

241 


242  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

of  their  superior  power ;  and  the  Athenians  having  made  up  their 
minds  to  abandon  their  city,  broke  up  their  homes,  threw  them- 
selves into  their  ships,  and  became  a  naval  people.  This  coalition, 
after  repulsing  the  barbarian,  soon  afterwards  split  into  two  sec- 
tions, which  included  the  Hellenes  who  had  revolted  from  the 
king,  as  well  as  those  who  had  aided  him  in  the  war.  At  the  head 
of  the  one  stood  Athens,  at  the  head  of  the  other  Lacedasmon, 
one  the  first  naval,  the  other  the  first  military  power  in  Hellas. 
For  a  short  time  the  league  held  together,  till  the  Lacedaemonians 
and  Athenians  quarrelled,  and  made  war  upon  each  other  with 
their  allies,  a  duel  into  which  all  the  Hellenes  sooner  or  later  were 
drawn,  though  some  might  at  first  remain  neutral.  So  that  the 
whole  period  from  the  Median  war  to  this,  with  some  peaceful  in- 
tervals, was  spent  by  each  power  in  war,  either  with  its  rival,  or 
with  its  own  revolted  allies,  and  consequently  afforded  them  con- 
stant practice  in  militaiy  matters,  and  that  experience  which  is 
learnt  in  the  school  of  danger. 

The  policy  of  Lacedaemon  was  not  to  exact  tribute  from  her 
allies,  but  merely  to  secure  their  subservience  to  her  interests  by 
establishing  oligarchies  among  them  ;  Athens,  on  the  contrary, 
had  by  degrees  deprived  hers  of  their  ships,  and  imposed  instead 
contributions  in  money  on  all  except  Chios  and  Lesbos.  Both 
found  their  resources  for  this  war  separately  to  exceed  the  sum 
of  their  strength  when  the  alliance  flourished  intact. 

But  before  turning  her  attention  farther  afield  Athens  had  first 
to  rebuild  her  shattered  city  and  her  walls  and  to  establish  a  strong 
harbor  at  Piraeus. 

Thitcydides,  I,  89-93 

The  way  in  which  Athens  came  to  be  placed  in  the  circumstances 
under  which  her  power  grew  was  this.  After  the  Medes  had  re- 
turned from  Europe,  defeated  by  sea  and  land  by  the  Hellenes, 
and  after  those  of  them  who  had  fled  with  their  ships  to  Mycale 
had  been  destroyed,  Leotychides,  King  of  the  Lacedaemonians, 
the  commander  of  the  Hellenes  at  Mycale,  departed  home  with 
the  allies  from  Peloponnese.     But  the  Athenians  and  the  allies 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      243 

from  Ionia  and  Hellespont,  who  had  now  revolted  from  the  king, 
remained  and  laid  siege  to  Sestos,  which  was  still  held  by  the 
Medes.  After  wintering  before  it,  they  became  masters  of  the 
place  on  its  evacuation  by  the  barbarians  ;  and  after  this  they  sailed 
away  from  Hellespont  to  their  respective  cities.  Meanwhile  the 
Athenian  people,  after  the  departure  of  the  barbarians  from  their 
country,  at  once  proceeded  to  carry  over  their  children  and  wives, 
and  such  property  as  they  had  left,  from  the  places  where  they 
had  deposited  them,  and  prepared  to  rebuild  their  city  and  their 
walls.  For  only  isolated  portions  of  the  circumference  had  been 
left  standing,  and  most  of  the  houses  were  in  ruins  ;  though  a  few  re- 
mained, in  which  the  Persian  grandees  had  taken  up  their  quarters. 
Perceiving  what  they  were  going  to  do,  the  Lacedaemonians  sent 
an  embassy  to  Athens.  They  would  have  themselves  preferred  to 
see  neither  her  nor  any  other  city  in  possession  of  a  wall ;  though 
here  they  acted  principally  at  the  instigation  of  their  allies,  who 
were  alarmed  at  the  strength  of  her  newly  acquired  navy,  and  the 
valour  which  she  had  displayed  in  the  war  with  the  Medes.  They 
begged  her  not  only  to  abstain  from  building  walls  for  herself,  but 
also  to  join  them  in  throwing  down  the  walls  that  still  held  together 
of  the  ultra-Peloponnesian  cities.  The  real  meaning  of  their  advice, 
the  suspicion  that  it  contained  against  the  Athenians,  was  not  pro- 
claimed ;  it  was  urged  that  so  the  barbarian,  in  the  event  of  a 
third  invasion,  would  not  have  any  strong  place,  such  as  he  now 
had  in  Thebes,  for  his  base  of  operations  ;  and  that  Peloponnese 
would  suffice  for  all  as  a  base  for  both  retreat  and  offence.  After 
the  Lacedaemonians  had  thus  spoken,  they  were,  on  the  advice  of 
Themistocles,  immediately  dismissed  by  the  Athenians,  with  the 
answer  that  ambassadors  should  be  sent  to  Sparta  to  discuss  the 
question.  Themistocles  told  the  Athenians  to  send  him  off  with 
all  speed  to  Lacedaemon,  but  not  to  despatch  his  colleagues  as 
soon  as  they  had  selected  them,  but  to  wait  until  they  had  raised 
their  wall  to  the  height  from  which  defence  was  possible.  Mean- 
while the  whole  population  in  the  city  was  to  labour  at  the  wall, 
the  Athenians,  their  wives  and  their  children,  sparing  no  edifice, 
private  or  public,  which  might  be  of  any  use  to  the  work,  but  throw- 
ing all  down.    After  giving  these  instructions,  and  adding  that 


244  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

he  would  be  responsible  for  all  other  matters  there,  he  departed. 
Arrived  at  Lacedaemon  he  did  not  seek  an  audience  with  the 
authorities,  but  tried  to  gain  time  and  made  excuses.  When  any 
of  the  government  asked  him  why  he  did  not  appear  in  the  assem- 
bly, he  would  say  that  he  was  waiting  for  his  colleagues,  who  had 
been  detained  in  Athens  by  some  engagement ;  however,  that  he 
expected  their  speedy  arrival,  and  wondered  that  they  were  not  yet 
there.  At  first  the  Lacedaemonians  trusted  the  words  of  Themis- 
tocles,  through  their  friendship  for  him  ;  but  when  others  arrived, 
all  distinctly  declaring  that  the  work  was  going  on  and  already 
attaining  some  elevation,  they  did  not  know  how  to  disbelieve  it. 
Aware  of  this,  he  told  them  that  rumours  are  deceptive,  and  should 
not  be  trusted  ;  they  should  send  some  reputable  persons  from 
Sparta  to  inspect,  whose  report  might  be  trusted.  They  despatched 
them  accordingly.  Concerning  these  Themistocles  secretly  sent 
word  to  the  Athenians  to  detain  them  as  far  as  possible  without 
putting  them  under  open  constraint,  and  not  to  let  them  go  until 
they  had  themselves  returned.  For  his  colleagues  had  now  joined 
him,  Abronichus,  son  of  Lysicles,  and  Aristides,  son  of  Lysimachus, 
with  the  news  that  the  wall  was  sufficiently  advanced  ;  and  he  feared 
that  when  the  Lacedaemonians  heard  the  facts,  they  might  refuse 
to  let  them  go.  So  the  Athenians  detained  the  envoys  according 
to  his  message,  and  Themistocles  had  an  audience  with  the  Lace- 
daemonians, and  at  last  openly  told  them  that  Athens  was  now 
fortified  sufficiently  to  protect  its  inhabitants  ;  that  any  embassy 
which  the  Lacedaemonians  or  their  allies  might  wish  to  send  to 
them,  should  in  future  proceed  on  the  assumption  that  the  people 
to  whom  they  were  going  was  able  to  distinguish  both  its  own  and 
the  general  interests.  That  when  the  Athenians  thought  fit  to 
abandon  their  city  and  to  embark  in  their  ships,  they  ventured  on 
that  perilous  step  without  consulting  them  ;  and  that  on  the  other 
hand,  wherever  they  had  deliberated  with  the  Lacedaemonians, 
they  had  proved  themselves  to  be  in  judgment  second  to  none. 
That  they  now  thought  it  fit  that  their  city  should  have  a  wall,  and 
that  this  would  be  more  for  the  advantage  of  both  the  citizens  of 
Athens  and  the  Hellenic  confederacy ;  for  vv^ithout  equal  military 
strength  it  was  impossible  to  contribute  equal  or  fair  counsel  to 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      245 

the  common  interest.  It  followed,  he  observed,  either  that  all  the 
members  of  the  confederacy  should  be  without  walls,  or  that  the 
present  step  should  be  considered  a  right  one. 

The  Lacediemonians  did  not  betray  any  open  signs  of  anger 
against  the  Athenians  at  what  they  heard.  The  embassy,  it  seems, 
was  prompted  not  by  a  desire  to  obstruct,  but  to  guide  the  counsels 
of  their  government :  besides.  Spartan  feeling  was  at  that  time 
very  friendly  towards  Athens  on  account  of  the  patriotism  which 
she  had  displayed  in  the  struggle  with  the  Mede.  Still  the  defeat 
of  their  wishes  could  not  but  cause  them  secret  annoyance.  The 
envoys  of  each  state  departed  home  without  complaint. 

In  this  way  the  Athenians  walled  their  city  in  a  little  while.  To 
this  day  the  building  shows  signs  of  the  haste  of  its  execution  ; 
the  foundations  are  laid  of  stones  of  all  kinds,  and  in  some  places 
not  wrought  or  fitted,  but  placed  just  in  the  order  in  which  they 
were  brought  by  the  different  hands ;  and  many  columns,  too, 
from  tombs  and  sculptured  stones  were  put  in  with  the  rest.  For 
the  bounds  of  the  city  were  extended  at  every  point  of  the  circum- 
ference ;  and  so  they  laid  hands  on  everything  without  exception 
in  their  haste.  Themistocles  also  persuaded  them  to  finish  the 
walls  of  Piraeus,  which  had  been  begun  before,  in  his  year  of  office 
as  archon  ;  being  influenced  alike  by  the  fineness  of  a  locality  that 
has  three  natural  harbours,  and  by  the  great  start  which  the  Athe- 
nians would  gain  in  the  acquisition  of  power  by  becoming  a  naval 
people.  For  he  first  ventured  to  tell  them  to  stick  to  the. sea  and 
forthwith  began  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  empire.  It  was  by 
his  advice,  too,  that  they  built  the  walls  of  that  thickness  which 
can  still  be  discerned  round  Piraeus,  the  stones  being  brought  up 
by  two  waggons  meeting  each  other.  Between  the  walls  thus 
formed  there  was  neither  rubble  nor  mortar,  but  great  stones  hewn 
square  and  fitted  together,  cramped  to  each  other  on  the  outside 
with  iron  and  lead.  About  half  the  height  that  he  intended  was 
finished.  His  idea  was  by  their  size  and  thickness  to  keep  off  the 
attacks  of  an  enemy  ;  he  thought  that  they  might  be  adequately 
defended  by  a  small  garrison  of  invalids,  and  the  rest  be  freed  for 
service  in  the  fleet.  For  the  fleet  claimed  most  of  his  attention. 
He  saw,  as  I  think,  that  the  approach  by  sea  was  easier  for  the 


246  REyVDINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

king's  army  than  that  by  land  :  he  also  thought  Piraeus  more  valu- 
able than  the  upper  city  ;  indeed,  he  was  always  advising  the  Athe- 
nians, if  a  day  should  come  when  they  were  hard  pressed  by  land, 
to  go  down  into  Piraeus,  and  defy  the  world  with  their  fleet.  Thus, 
therefore,  the  Athenians  completed  their  wall,  and  commenced 
their  other  buildings  immediately  after  the  retreat  of  the  Mede. 

Plutarch,  Themisfocks,  19 

Next  he  proceeded  to  establish  the  harbour  of  Piraeus,  observing 
the  great  natural  advantages  of  the  locality,  and  desirous  to  unite 
the  whole  city  with  the  sea,  and  to  reverse,  in  a  manner,  the  policy 
of  ancient  Athenian  kings,  who,  endeavouring  to  withdraw  their 
subjects  from  the  sea,  and  to  accustom  them  to  live,  not  by  sailing 
about,  but  by  planting  and  tilling  the  earth,  spread  the  story  of 
the  dispute  between  Athena  and  Poseidon  for  the  sovereignty  of 
Athens,  in  which  Athena,  by  producing  to  the  judges  an  olive-tree, 
was  declared  to  have  won  ;  whereas  Themistocles  did  not  only 
knead  up,  as  Aristophanes  says,  the  port  and  the  city  into  one,  but 
made  the  city  absolutely  the  dependant  and  the  adjunct  of  the  port, 
and  the  land  of  the  sea,  which  increased  the  power  and  confidence 
of  the  people  against  the  nobility ;  the  authority  coming  into  the 
hands  of  sailors  and  boatswains  and  pilots.  Thus  it  was  one  of  the 
orders  of  the  thirty  tyrants,  that  the  hustings  in  the  assembly,  which 
had  faced  towards  the  sea,  should  be  turned  round  towards  the 
land ;  implying  their  opinion  that  the  empire  by  sea  had  been  the 
origin  of  the  democracy,  and  that  the  farming  population  were  not 
so  much  opposed  to  oligarchy. 

2.  THE   LEADERSHIP  OF  ATHENS;  ASSESSMENT 

The  transition  from  Delian  Confederacy  to  Athenian  Empire 
seems  to  have  come  about  in  a  gradual,  almost  imperceptible  way. 

The  arrangements  made  by  Aristides  were  accepted  by  all  as 
just  and  satisfactory. 

Thiicydides,  I,  96-99 

The  Athenians  having  thus  succeeded  to  the  supremacy  by  the 
voluntary  act  of  the  allies  through  their  hatred  of  Pausanias  fixed 
which  cities  were  to  contribute  money  against  the  barbarian,  which 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      247 

ships  ;  their  professed  object  being  to  retahate  for  their  sufferings 
by  ravaging  the  king's  country.  Now  was  the  time  that  the  office 
of  "Treasurers  for  Hellas  "  was  first  instituted  by  the  Athenians. 
These  officers  received  the  tribute,  as  the  money  contributed  was 
called.  The  tribute  was  first  fixed  at  four  hundred  and  sixty  talents. 
The  common  treasury  was  at  Delos,  and  the  congresses  were  held 
in  the  temple.  Their  supremacy  commenced  with  independent 
allies  w4io  acted  on  the  resolutions  of  a  common  congress.  It  was 
marked  by  the  following  undertakings  in  war  and  in  administration 
during  the  interval  between  the  IVIedian  and  the  present  war, 
against  the  barbarian,  against  their  own  rebel  allies,  and  against 
the  Peloponnesian  powers  which  would  come  in  contact  with  them 
on  various  occasions.  My  excuse  for  relating  these  events,  and  for 
venturing  on  this  digression,  is  that  this  passage  of  history  has 
been  omitted  by  all  my  predecessors,  who  have  confined  them- 
selves either  to  Hellenic  history  before  the  Median  war,  or  to 
the  Median  war  itself.  Hellanicus,  it  is  true,  did  touch  on  these 
events  in  his  Athenian  history  ;  but  he  is  somewhat  concise  and 
not  accurate  in  his  dates.  Besides,  the  history  of  these  events 
contains  an  explanation  of  the  growth  of  the  Athenian  empire. 

First  the  Athenians  besieged  and  captured  Eion  on  the  Strymon 
from  the  Medes,  and  made  slaves  of  the  inhabitants,  being  under 
the  command  of  Cimon,  son  of  Miltiades,  Next  they  enslaved 
Scyros  the  island  in  the  yEgean,  containing  a  Dolopian  population, 
and  colonised  it  themselves.  This  was  followed  by  a  war  against 
Carystus,  in  which  the  rest  of  Euboea  remained  neutral,  and  which 
was  ended  by  surrender  on  conditions.  After  this  Naxos  left  the 
confederacy,  and  a  war  ensued,  and  she  had  to  return  after  a 
siege  ;  this  was  the  first  instance  of  the  engagement  being  broken 
by  the  subjugation  of  an  allied  city,  a  precedent  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  that  of  the  rest  in  the  order  which  circumstances  pre- 
scribed. Of  all  the  causes  of  defection,  that  connected  with 
arrears  of  tribute  and  vessels,  and  with  failure  of  service,  was  the 
chief  ;  for  the  Athenians  were  very  severe  and  exacting,  and  made 
themselves  offensive  by  applying  the  screw  of  necessity  to  men 
who  were  not  used  to  and  in  fact  not  disposed  for  any  continuous 
labour.     In  some  other  respects  the  Athenians  were  not  the  old 


248  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

popular  rulers  they  had  been  at  first ;  and  if  they  had  more  than 
their  fair  share  of  service,  it  was  correspondingly  easy  for  them  to 
reduce  any  that  tried  to  leave  the  confederacy.  For  this  the  allies 
had  themselves  to  blame ;  the  wish  to  get  off  service  making  most 
of  them  arrange  to  pay  their  share  of  the  expense  in  money 
instead  of  in  ships,  and  so  to  avoid  having  to  leave  their  homes. 
Thus  while  Athens  was  increasing  her  navy  with  the  funds  which 
they  contributed,  a  revolt  always  found  them  without  resources  or 
experience  for  war. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXIII-XXIV 

But  after  the  Median  war  the  council  of  the  Areopagus  again 
became  powerful,  and  administered  the  government,  having  got 
the  leadership,  not  from  any  formal  decree,  but  from  having 
brought  about  the  sea-fight  at  Salamis.  For  when  the  generals 
had  shown  themselves  quite  unequal  to  the  emergency,  and  had 
proclaimed  a  sauve  qui  peiit,  the  Areopagus  came  forward  with 
funds,  and  distributing  eight  drachmae  to  each  sailor,  so  manned 
the  ships.  For  this  reason  they  yielded  to  its  claims,  and  the 
Athenians  were  governed  well  at  this  particular  period ;  for  cir- 
cumstances led  them  to  give  their  attention  to  war  ;  they  were  held 
in  high  esteem  among  the  Greeks,  and  made  themselves  masters 
of  the  sea,  despite  the  Lacedaemonians.  The  leaders  of  the  people 
in  these  days  were  Aristides,  the  son  of  Lysimachus,  and  The- 
mistokles,  the  son  of  Neokles,  the  latter  devoting  himself  to  military 
matters,  while  the  former  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  a 
sagacious  statesman,  and  conspicuous  for  justice  among  his  con- 
temporaries. They  accordingly  made  use  of  the  services  of  the  one 
in  war,  and  of  the  other  in  council.  The  rebuilding  of  the  walls,  how- 
ever, was  conducted  by  both  of  them  together,  notwithstanding 
their  political  differences  ;  but  it  was  Aristides  who  urged  on  the 
revolt  of  the  lonians  and  the  alliance  with  the  Lacedaemonians, 
watching  his  opportunity  when  the  Laconians  had  been  brought 
into  ill  odour  by  the  doings  of  Pausanias.  This  was  the  reason 
why  it  was  he  who  apportioned  to  the  cities  the  tributes  which 
were  first  imposed  in  the  third  year  after  the  sea-fight  at  Salamis 
in  the  archonship  of  Timosthenes,  and  why  he  made  a  treaty  with 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      249 

the   lonians,  offensive  and   defensive,   in  confirmation  of  which 
they  sunk  the  bars  of  iron  in  the  sea. 

After  this,  when  the  city  was  now  in  good  heart  and  its  treasury 
overflowing,  he  advised  the  people  to  lay  a  claim  to  national 
supremacy,  and  to  leave  the  country,  and  come  and  live  in  the 
city  ;  saying  that  there  would  be  the  means  of  living  for  all,  for 
some  in  military  service,  for  others  in  keeping  guard,  and  for  the 
rest  in  public  employments,  and  that  in  this  way  they  would  obtain 
national  supremacy.  Yielding  to  these  representations,  they  as- 
sumed the  leadership  of  Greece,  and  treated  the  allies  in  suffi- 
ciently lordly  fashion,  except  the  Chians  and  Lesbians  and  Samians  ; 
for  these  they  kept  as  guards  of  their  empire,  leaving  them  their 
forms  of  government,  and  not  interfering  with  their  rule  over  such 
subjects  as  they  had.  They  established  for  the  masses  easy  means 
of  subsistence,  just  in  the  way  Aristides  had  shown  them  ;  for 
from  their  tributes  and  their  taxes  and  their  allies  the  maintenance 
of  more  than  twenty  thousand  men  was  provided.  There  were  six 
thousand  jurors,  and  sixteen  hundred  archers,  and  in  addition  to 
them  twelve  hundred  cavalry,  five  hundred  of  the  Council,  and 
guards  of  the  dockyards  five  hundred,  and  in  the  city  fifty  guards, 
and  home  magistrates  up  to  seven  hundred  men,  and  men  on 
foreign  service  up  to  seven  hundred ;  and  besides  these,  when 
they  afterwards  engaged  in  war,  two  thousand  five  hundred  hop- 
lites,  and  twenty  guard-ships,  and  other  ships  which  brought  the 
tributes,  manned  by  two  thousand  men  chosen  by  lot,  and  further 
the  Prytaneum,  and  orphans  and  guards  of  prisoners  ]  for  all  these 
derived  their  maintenance  from  the  public  funds. 

Plutarch,  Aristides,  24 

The  Hellenes  used  to  pay  a  sort  of  contribution  for  the  war 
even  while  the  Lacedremonians  had  the  leadership,  but  now  they 
wished  to  be  assessed  equably  city  by  city.  So  they  asked  the 
Athenians  for  Aristides,  and  commissioned  him  to  inspect  their 
several  territories  and  revenues,  and  then  to  fix  the  assessments 
according  to  each  member's  worth  and  ability  to  pay. 

And  yet,  though  he  became  master  of  such  power,  and  though 
after  a  fashion  Hellas  put  all  her  property  in  his  sole  hands,  poor 


250  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

as  he  was  when  he  went  forth  on  this  mission,  he  came  back  from 
it  poorer  still,  and  he  made  his  assessments  of  moneys  not  only 
with  purity  and  justice,  but  also  to  the  grateful  satisfaction  and 
convenience  of  all  concerned.  Indeed,  as  men  of  old  hymned  the 
praises  of  the  age  of  Cronus,  —  the  golden  age,  —  so  did  the  allies 
of  the  Athenians  praise  the  tariff  of  Aristides,  calling  it  a  kind  of 
blessed  happening  for  Hellas,  especially  as,  after  a  short  time,  it 
was  doubled  and  then  again  trebled. 

For  the  tax  which  Aristides  laid  amounted  to  four  hundred  and 
sixty  talents  only  ;  but  Pericles  must  have  added  almost  a  third  to 
this,  since  Thucydides  says  that  when  the  war  began  the  Athenians 
had  a  revenue  of  six  hundred  talents  from  their  allies.  And  after 
the  death  of  Pericles  the  demagogues  enlarged  it  little  by  little, 
and  at  last  brought  the  sum  total  up  to  thirteen  hundred  talents,  not 
so  much  because  the  war,  by  reason  of  its  length  and  vicissitudes, 
became  extravagantly  expensive,  as  because  they  themselves  led  the 
people  off  into  the  distribution  of  public  moneys  for  spectacular 
entertainments,  and  for  the  erection  of  images  and  sanctuaries. 

So  then  Aristides  had  a  great  and  admirable  name  for  his 
adjustment  of  the  revenues. 

Plutarch,  Aristides^  25 

And  in  general,  as  Theophrastus  tells  us,  while  the  man  was 
strictly  just  in  his  private  relations  to  his  fellow-citizens,  in  public 
matters  he  often  acted  in  accordance  with  the  policy  which  his 
country  had  adopted,  feeling  that  this  required  considerable  in- 
justice. For  instance,  he  says  that  when  the  question  of  removing 
the  moneys  of  the  confederacy  from  Delos  to  Athens,  contrary  to 
the  compacts,  was  being  debated  at  the  instance  of  the  Samians, 
Aristides  declared  that  it  was  unjust,  but  advantageous. 

Thucydides,  II,  9,  13 

That  [i.e.  the  Confederacy]  of  Athens  comprised  the  Chians, 
Lesbians,  Plataeans,  the  Messenians  in  Naupactus,  most  of  the 
Acarnanians,  the  Corcyraeans,  Zacynthians,  and  some  tributary 
cities  in  the  following  countries,  viz.,  Caria  upon  the  sea  with 
her  Dorian  neighbours,  Ionia,  the  Hellespont,  the  Thracian  towns, 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      251 

the  islands  lying  between  Peloponnese  and  Crete  towards  the 
east,  and  all  the  Cyclades  except  Melos  and  Thera.  Of  these, 
ships  were  furnished  by  Chios,  Lesbos,  and  Corcyra,  infantry  and 
money  by  the  rest.  Such  were  the  allies  of  either  party  and  their 
resources  for  the  war,   .  .  . 

They  were  also  to  keep  a  tight  rein  on  their  allies  —  the  strength 
of  Athens  being  derived  from  the  money  brought  in  by  their  pay- 
ments, and  success  in  war  depending  principally  upon  conduct 
and  capital.  Here  they  had  no  reason  to  despond.  Apart  from 
other  sources  of  income,  an  average  revenue  of  six  hundred  talents 
of  silver  was  drawn  from  the  tribute  of  the  allies  ;  and  there  were 
still  six  thousand  talents  of  coined  silver  in  the  Acropolis,  out  of 
nine  thousand  seven  hundred  that  had  once  been  there,  from  which 
the  money  had  been  taken  for  the  porch  of  the  Acropolis,  the 
other  public  buildings,  and  for  Potidasa.  This  did  not  include  the 
uncoined  gold  and  silver  in  public  and  private  offerings,  the  sacred 
vessels  for  the  processions  and  games,  the  Median  spoils,  and 
similar  resources  to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  talents.  To  this 
he  added  the  treasures  of  the  other  temples.  These  were  by  no 
means  inconsiderable,  and  might  fairly  be  used.  Nay,  if  they  were 
ever  absolutely  driven  to  it,  they  might  take  even  the  gold  ornaments 
of  Athene  herself ;  for  the  statue  contained  forty  talents  of  pure 
gold  and  it  was  all  removable.  This  might  be  used  for  self- 
preservation,  and  must  every  penny  of  it  be  restored.  Such  was 
their  financial  position  —  surely  a  satisfactory  one. 

Plutarch,  Cimon,  1 1 

The  allies  of  the  Athenians  began  now  to  be  weary  of  war  and 
military  service,  willing  to  have  repose,  and  to  look  after  their 
husbandry  and  traffic.  For  they  saw  their  enemies  driven  out  of 
the  country,  and  did  not  fear  any  new  vexations  from  them.  They 
still  paid  the  tax  they  were  assessed  at,  but  did- not  send  men  and 
galleys,  as  they  had  done  before.  This  the  other  Athenian  generals 
wished  to  constrain  them  to,  and  by  judicial  proceedings  against 
defaulters,  and  penalties  which  they  inflicted  on  them,  made  the 
government  uneasy,  and  even  odious.  But  Cimon  practised  a  con- 
trary method  ;  he  forced  no  man  to  go  that  was  not  willing,  but  of 


252  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

those  that  desired  to  be  excused  from  service  he  took  money  and 
vessels  unmanned,  and  let  them  yield  to  the  temptation  of  staying 
at  home,  to  attend  to  their  private  business.  Thus  they  lost  their 
military  habits,  and  luxury  and  their  own  folly  quickly  changed 
them  into  unwarlike  husbandmen  and  traders ;  while  Cimon, 
continually  embarking  large  numbers  of  Athenians  on  board  his 
galleys,  thoroughly  disciplined  them  in  his  expeditions,  and  ere 
long  made  them  the  lords  of  their  own  paymasters.  The  allies, 
whose  indolence  maintained  them,  while  they  thus  went  sailing 
about  everywhere,  and  incessantly  bearing  arms  and  acquiring  skill, 
began  to  fear  and  flatter  them,  and  found  themselves  after  a  while 
allies  no  longer,  but  unwittingly  become  tributaries  and  slaves. 

The  formal  transfer  of  the  treasury  from  Delos  to  Athens 
marked  the  official  recognition  of  what  must  have  been  the  true 
state  of  affairs  for  some  time.^ 

This  policy  of  course  invoked  a  great  deal  of  criticism,  and 
Athens  was  accused  of  enslaving  free  states  and  using  their 
money  for  her  own  purposes.  This  she  justified  on  the  grounds 
that  she  was  giving  the  states  the  protection  agreed  on  and  that 
it  was  her  own  concern  how  the  money  was  used. 

Thucydides  makes  out  a  good  case  for  the  Athenians. 

Thucydides,  VI,  82-83,  §5 

"Although  we  came  here  only  to  renew  the  former  alliance, 
the  attack  of  the  Syracusans  compels  us  to  speak  of  our  empire 
and  of  the  good  right  we  have  to  it.  The  best  proof  of  this  the 
speaker  himself  furnished,  when  he  called  the  lonians  eternal 
enemies  of  the  Dorians.  It  is  the  fact ;  and  the  Peloponnesian 
Dorians  being  our  superiors  in  numbers  and  next  neighbours, 
we  lonians  looked  out  for  the  best  means  of  escaping  their  domi- 
nation. After  the  Median  war  we  had  a  fleet,  and  so  got  rid  of 
the  empire  and  supremacy  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  who  had  no 

1  Among  the  most  valuable  historical  records  left  to  us  are  the  tribute  lists  which  were 
inscribed  on  marble  slabs  and  set  up  in  Athens.  The  quota  due  from  each  city  is  indicated 
there.  Unfortunately  they  are  in  too  fragmentary  a  condition  to  be  inserted  here.  (See 
Hicks  and  Hill,  33  and  notes.)  They  form  the  basis  of  such  works  as  Ktihler's  ''  Urkunden  " 
and  Boeckh's  "  Staatshaushaltung." 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      253 

right  to  give  orders  to  us  more  than  we  to  them,  except  that  of 
being  the  strongest  at  that  moment ;  and  being  appointed  leaders 
of  the  king's  former  subjects,  we  continue  to  be  so,  thinking  that 
we  are  least  likely  to  fall  under  the  dominion  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesians,  if  we  have  a  force  to  defend  ourselves  with,  and  in 
strict  truth  having  done  nothing  unfair  in  reducing  to  subjection 
the  lonians  and  islanders,  the  kinsfolk  whom  the  Syracusans  say 
we  have  enslaved.  They,  our  kinsfolk,  came  against  their  mother 
country,  that  is  to  say  against  us,  together  with  the  Mede,  and 
instead  of  having  the  courage  to  revolt  and  sacrifice  their  property 
as  we  did  when  we  abandoned  our  city,  chose  to  be  slaves  them- 
selves, and  to  try  to  make  us  so. 

"  We,  therefore,  deserve  to  rule  because  we  placed  the  largest  fleet 
and  an  unflinching  patriotism  at  the  service  of  the  Hellenes,  and  be- 
cause these,  our  subjects,  did  us  mischief  by  their  ready  subservience 
to  the  Medes  ;  and,  desert  apart,  we  seek  to  strengthen  ourselves 
against  the  Peloponnesians.  We  make  no  fine  professions  of  having 
a  right  to  rule  because  we  overthrew  the  barbarian  single-handed, 
or  because  we  risked  what  we  did  risk  for  the  freedom  of  the  sub- 
jects in  question  any  more  than  for  that  of  all,  and  for  our  own  :  no 
one  can  be  quarrelled  with  for  providing  for  his  proper  safety.  .  .  . 

"  Besides,  for  tyrants  and  imperial  cities  nothing  is  unreason- 
able if  expedient,  no  one  a  kinsman  unless  sure ;  but  friendship 
or  enmity  is  everywhere  an  affair  of  time  and  circumstance.  Here, 
in  Sicily,  our  interest  is  not  to  weaken  our  friends,  but  by  means 
of  their  strength  to  cripple  our  enemies.  Why  doubt  this  ?  In 
Hellas  we  treat  our  allies  as  we  find  them  useful.  The  Chians 
and  Methymnians  govern  themselves  and  furnish  ships ;  most  of 
the  rest  have  harder  terms  and  pay  tribute  in  money  ;  while  others, 
although  islanders  and  easy  for  us  to  take,  are  free  altogether, 
because  they  occupy  convenient  positions  round  Peloponnese." 

Among  the  cities  mentioned  in  the  quota  list  for  450  b.c.  is 
Erythrae  in  Ionia.  The  text  of  the  following  inscription  shows 
some  of  the  matters  regulated  between  Athens  and  her  subject 
allies.  In  this  case  Athens  seems  to  have  maintained  pretty  full 
control  over  their  affairs. 


254  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Hicks  a  fid  Hill,  32 

Constitution  of  Erythr/e,  h.c.  455-450 

[a)  The  Erythraeans  are  to  contribute  to  the  great  Panathenasa 
offerings  worth  not  less  than  three  minae.  And  the  hieropoioi  are 
to  distribute  to  each  Erythraean  present  a  drachma's  weight  of 
the  flesh  of  the  victims.  And  if  they  contribute,  indeed,  but  less 
than  three  minae's  worth  as  they  are  told,  the  priests  are  to  buy 
victims,  and  the  Erythraean  people  are  to  be  registered  as  owing 
the  amount  spent.  Any  other  (i.e.  anybody  but  an  Erythraean) 
who  wishes  to  may  feast  upon  the  meat. 

{b)  The  senate  of  the  Erythraeans  is  to  be  one  hundred  and 
twenty  men  elected  by  lot.  The  one  elected  is  to  undergo  an  ex- 
amination in  the  senate  ;  and  no  one  less  than  thirty  years  old 
can  legally  serve.  Those  who  are  ineligible  may  be  prosecuted, 
and  they  cannot  serve  within  four  years.  On  the  present  occasion 
the  overseers  and  the  commandant  shall  cast  lots  and  establish  the 
senate,  in  the  future  the  senate  and  the  commandant.  Each  of 
the  senators-elect  at  Erythrae  before  he  enters  upon  his  office  shall 
swear  by  Zeus,  Apollo  and  Demeter,  invoking  utter  destruction 
on  himself  and  his  children  if  he  breaks  his  oath  ;  the  oath  is  to 
be  taken  over  the  victims  while  they  are  burning.  The  senate  in 
session  shall  require  this.  If  not,  there  may  be  a  fine  of  one  thou- 
sand drachmas  or  whatever  the  people  of  Erythrae  shall  vote  that 
they  pay  down.  The  oath  follows  :  —  "  I  shall  serve  as  best  I  can 
and  as  fairly  as  possible  towards  the  people  of  Erythrae  and  of 
Athens  and  the  allies,  and  I  will  not  revolt  from  the  people  of 
Athens  or  from  the  allies  of  Athens,  neither  I  myself  nor  will 
I  try  to  persuade  anyone  else.  Nor  will  I  be  a  deserter  myself  or 
influence  anyone  else  to  desert,  no,  not  one.  Nor  will  I  receive 
a  single  exile  myself  or  be  persuaded  to  do  so  by  another,  of  those 
who  escaped  to  the  Persians,  without  a  decree  of  the  Athenians  and 
the  people.  Nor  will  I  exile  any  of  those  who  remained,  without 
decree  of  the  Athenians  and  the  people." 

{c)  If  any  Erythraean  kills  another  Erythraean,  let  him  be  put  to 
death.  And  if  exile  for  life  is  decreed  against  anyone,  he  shall  be 
exiled  from  all  territory  in  alliance  with  the  Athenians  and  his 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      255 

property  shall  be  Confiscated  by  the  Er}'thr3ean  state,  and  if  anyone 
is  caught  attempting  to  betray  the  city  of  the  Erythraeans  to  the 
tyrants,  let  him  be  killed  without  penalty  (to  the  slayer)  and  his 
children  too,  unless  his  children  are  shown  to  be  conducting  them- 
selves properly  towards  the  people  of  Erythras  and  of  Athens. 
The  children  of  the  guilty  man  are  to  deposit  half  his  property 
and  keep  half.   .  .  . 

3.  CIMON,  ADMIRAL  AND   STATESMAN 

Athens  was  fortunate  in  having  at  this  time  in  the  person  of 
Cimon  exactly  the  right  man  to  extend  her  empire  and  influence. 
His  brilliant  victories  on  the  sea  secured  for  her  territory  and 
wealth,  the  latter  of  which  was  spent  largely  in  strengthening  the 
walls  around  the  city  and  those  on  the  way  to  Piraeus. 

A  bronze  palm  tree  and  a  gilt  image  of  Athena  were  dedicated 
at  Delphi  out  of  the  spoils.    (Pausanias,  X,  xv,  4) 

Thticydides,  I,  98 

First  the  Athenians  besieged  and  captured  Eion  on  the  Strymon 
from  the  Medes,  and  made  slaves  of  the  inhabitants,  being  under 
the  command  of  Cimon,  son  of  Miltiades.  Next  they  enslaved 
Scyros  the  island  in  the  ^Elgean,  containing  a  Dolopian  population, 
and  colonised  it  themselves.  This  was  followed  by  a  war  against 
Car^'stus,  in  which  the  rest  of  Euboea  remained  neutral,  and  which 
was  ended  by  surrender  on  conditions. 

Plutarch,  Cimon,  7 

Cimon,  strengthened  with  the  accession  of  the  allies,  went  as 
general  into  Thrace.  For  he  was  told  that  some  great  men  among 
the  Persians,  of  the  king's  kindred,  being  in  possession  of  Eion, 
a  city  situated  upon  the  river  Strymon,  infested  the  neighbouring 
Greeks.  First  he  defeated  these  Persians  in  battle,  and  shut  them 
up  within  the  walls  of  their  town.  Then  he  fell  upon  the  Thracians 
of  the  country  beyond  the  Strymon,  because  they  supplied  Eion 
with  victuals,  and  driving  them  entirely  out  of  the  country,  took 
possession  of  it  as  conqueror,  by  which  means  he  reduced  the  be- 
sieged to  such  straits,  that  Butes,  who  commanded  there  for  the 


256  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

king,  in  desperation  set  fire  to  the  town,  and  burned  himself,  his 
goods,  and  all  his  relations,  in  one  common  flame.  By  this  means, 
Cimon  got  the  town,  but  no  great  booty  ;  as  the  barbarians  had  not 
only  consumed  themselves  in  the  fire,  but  the  richest  of  their  effects. 
However,  he  put  the  country  about  into  the  hands  of  the  Athenians, 
a  most  advantageous  and  desirable  situation  for  a  setdement.  For 
this  action,  the  people  permitted  him  to  erect  the  stone  Hermae, 
upon  the  first  of  which  was  this  inscription  :  — 

Of  bold  and  patient  spirit,  too;  were  those, 
Who,  where  the  Strymon  under  Eion  flows, 
With  famine  and  the  sword,  to  utmost  need, 
Reduced  at  last  the  children  of  the  Mede. 

Upon  the  second  stood  this  :  — 

The  Athenians  to  their  leaders  this  reward 
For  great  and  useful  service  did  accord ; 
Others  hereafter  shall,  from  their  applause, 
Learn  to  be  valiant  in  their  country's  cause. 

And  upon  the  third  the  following  :  — 

With  Atreus'  sons,  this  city  sent  of  yore 

Divine  Menestheus  to  the  Trojan  shore; 

Of  all  the  Greeks,  so  Homer's  verses  say. 

The  ablest  man  an  army  to  array : 

So  old  the  title  of  her  sons  the  name 

Of  chiefs  and  champions  in  the  field  to  claim. 

Plutarch,  Cimon,  8 

Cimon,  by  these  means,  got  the  town,  expelled  the  Dolopian 
pirates,  and  so  opened  the  traffic  of  the  yEgean  sea.  And,  under- 
standing that  the  ancient  Theseus,  the  son  of  yEgeus,  when  he 
fled  from  Athens  and  took  refuge  in  this  isle,  was  here  treacher- 
ously slain  by  King  Lycomedes,  who  feared  him,  Cimon  endeav- 
oured to  find  out  where  he  was  buried.  For  an  oracle  had 
commanded  the  Athenians  to  bring  home  his  ashes,  and  pay  him 
all  due  honours  as  a  hero  ;  but  hitherto  they  had  not  been  able  to 
learn  where  he  was  interred,  as  the  people  of  Scyros  dissembled 
the  knowledge  of  it,  and  were  not  willing  to  allow  a  search.  But 
now,  great  inquiry  being  made,  with  some  difficulty  he  found  out 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      257 

the  tomb  and  carried  the  rcHcs  into  his  own  galley,  and  with  great 
pomp  and  show  brought  them  to  Athens,  four  hundred  years,  or 
thereabouts,  after  his  expulsion.  This  act  got  Cimon  great  favour 
with  the  people. 

Thitcyilides,  I,  100 

Next  we  come  to  the  actions  by  land  and  by  sea  at  the  river 
Eurymedon,  between  the  Athenians  with  their  allies,  and  the 
Medes,  when  the  Athenians  won  both  battles  on  the  same  day 
under  the  conduct  of  Cimon,  son  of  Miltiades,  and  captured  and 
destroyed  the  whole  Phoenician  fleet,  consisting  of  two  hundred 
vessels. 

Plutarch,  Cimon,  12 

Nor  did  any  man  ever  do  more  than  Cimon  did  to  humble  the 
pride  of  the  Persian  king.  He  was  not  content  with  getting  rid  of 
him  out  of  Greece  ;  but  following  close  at  his  heels,  before  the 
barbarians  could  take  breath  and  recover  themselves,  he  was  already 
at  work,  and  what  with  his  devastations,  and  his  forcible  reduction 
of  some  places,  and  the  revolts  and  voluntary  accession  of  others 
in  the  end  from  Ionia  to  Pamphylia,  all  Asia  was  clear  of  Persian 
soldiers. 

Plutarch,  Cimon,  12-13 

Ephorus  says  the  admiral  of  the  Persian  fleet  was  Tithraustes, 
and  the  general  of  the  land  army  Pherendates  ;  but  Callisthenes  is 
positive  that  Ariomandes,  the  son  of  Gobryas,  had  the  supreme 
command  of  all  the  forces.  He  lay  waiting  with  the  whole  fleet  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river  Eurymedon,  with  no  design  to  fight,  but 
expecting  a  reinforcement  of  eighty  Phoenician  ships  on  their  way 
from  Cyprus.  Cimon,  aware  of  this,  put  out  to  sea,  resolved,  if 
they  would  not  fight  a  battle  willingly,  to  force  them  to  it.  The 
barbarians,  seeing  this,  retired  within  the  mouth  of  the  river  to 
avoid  being  attacked ;  but  when  they  saw  the  Athenians  come 
upon  them,  notwithstanding  their  retreat,  they  met  them  with  six 
hundred  ships,  as  Phanodemus  relates,  but,  according  to  Ephorus, 
only  with  three  hundred  and  fifty.  However,  they  did  nothing 
worthy  such  mighty  forces,  but  immediately  turned  the  prows  of 


2  58  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

their  galleys  toward  the  shore,  where  those  that  came  first  threw 
themselves  upon  the  land,  and  fled  to  their  army  drawn  up  there- 
about, while  the  rest  perished  with  their  vessel  or  were  taken.  By 
this,  one  may  guess  at  their  number,  for  though  a  great  many  es- 
caped out  of  the  fight,  and  a  great  many  others  were  sunk,  yet 
two  hundred  galleys  were  taken  by  the  Athenians, 

When  their  land  army  drew  toward  the  seaside,  Cimon  was  in 
suspense  whether  he  should  venture  to  try  and  force  his  way  on 
shore  ;  as  he  should  thus  expose  his  Greeks,  wearied  with  slaughter 
in  the  first  engagement,  to  the  swords  of  the  barbarians,  who  were 
all  fresh  men,  and  many  times  their  number.  But  seeing  his  men 
resolute,  and  flushed  with  victory,  he  bade  them  land,  though  they 
were  not  yet  cool  from  their  first  battle.  As  soon  as  they  touched 
ground,  they  set  up  a  shout  and  ran  upon  the  enemy,  who  stood 
firm  and  sustained  the  first  shock  with  great  courage,  so  that  the 
fight  was  a  hard  one,  and  some  principal  men  of  the  Athenians  in 
rank  and  courage  were  slain.  At  length,  though  with  much  ado, 
they  routed  the  barbarians,  and  killing  some,  took  others  prisoners, 
and  plundered  all  their  tents  and  pavilions,  which  were  full  of  rich 
spoil.  Cimon,  like  a  skilled  athlete  at  the  games,  having  in  one 
day  carried  off  two  victories  wherein  he  surpassed  that  of  Salamis 
by  sea  and  that  of  Plataea  by  land,  was  encouraged  to  try  for  yet 
another  success.  News  being  brought  that  the  Phoenician  succours, 
in  number  eighty  sail,  had  come  in  sight  at  Hydrum,  he  set  off 
with  all  speed  to  find  them,  while  they  as  yet  had  not  received  any 
certain  account  of  the  larger  fleet,  and  were  in  doubt  what  to  think  ; 
so  that,  thus  surprised,  they  lost  all  their  vessels  and  most  of  their 
men  with  them.  This  success  of  Cimon  so  daunted  the  King  of 
Persia  that  he  presently  made  that  celebrated  peace,  by  which  he 
engaged  that  his  armies  should  come  no  nearer  the  Grecian  sea 
than  the  length  of  a  horse's  course,  and  that  none  of  his  galleys  or 
vessels  of  war  should  appear  between  the  Cyanean  and  Chelidonian 
isles.  Callisthenes,  however,  says  that  he  did  not  agree  to  any  such 
articles,  but  that,  upon  the  fear  this  victory  gave  him,  he  did  in 
reality  thus  act,  and  kept  off  so  far  from  Greece,  that  when  Pericles 
with  fifty  and  Ephialtes  with  thirty  galleys  cruised  beyond  the 
Chelidonian  isles,  they  did  not  discover  one  Persian  vessel.    But 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      259 

in  the  collection  which  Craterus  made  of  the  public  acts  of  the 
people,  there  is  a  draft  of  this  treaty  given.  And  it  is  told,  also, 
that  at  Athens  they  erected  the  altar  of  Peace  upon  this  occasion, 
and  decreed  particular  honours  to  Callias,  who  was  employed  as 
ambassador  to  procure  the  treaty. 

The  people  of  Athens  raised  so  much  money  from  the  spoils  of 
this  war,  which  were  publicly  sold,  that  besides  other  expenses,  and 
raising  the  south  wall  of  the  citadel,  they  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  long  walls,  not,  indeed,  finished  till  at  a  later  time,  which  were 
called  the  Legs.  And  the  place  where  they  built  them  being  soft 
and  marshy  ground,  they  were  forced  to  sink  great  weights  of  stone 
and  nibble  to  secure  the  foundation,  and  did  all  this  out  of  the 
money  Cimon  supplied  them  with.  It  was  he,  likewise,  who  first 
embellished  the  upper  city  with  those  fine  and  ornamental  places 
of  exercise  and  resort,  which  they  afterwards  so  much  frequented 
and  delighted  in.  He  set  the  market-place  with  plane-trees  ;  and 
the  Academy,  which  was  before  a  bare,  dry,  and  dirty  spot,  he 
converted  into  a  well-watered  grove,  with  shady  alleys  to  walk  in, 
and  open  courses  for  races. 

Plutarch,  Cimon,  10 

Cimon  now  grew  rich,  and  what  he  gained  from  the  barbarians 
with  honour,  he  spent  yet  more  honourably  upon  the  citizens.  For 
he  pulled  down  all  the  enclosures  of  his  gardens  and  grounds,  that 
strangers,  and  the  needy  of  his  fellow-citizens,  might  gather  of  his 
fruits  freely.  At  home  he  kept  a  table,  plain,  but  sufficient  for  a 
considerable  number  ;  to  which  any  poor  townsman  had  free  access, 
and  so  might  support  himself  without  labour,  with  his  whole  time 
left  free  for  public  duties.  Aristotle  states,  however,  that  this  recep- 
tion did  not  extend  to  all  the  Athenians,  but  only  to  his  own  fellow- 
townsmen,  the  Laciadae.  Besides  this,  he  always  went  attended  by 
two  or  three  young  companions,  very  well  clad  ;  and  if  he  met 
with  an  elderly  citizen  in  a  poor  habit,  one  of  these  would  change 
clothes  with  the  decayed  citizen,  which  was  looked  upon  as  very 
nobly  done.  He  enjoined  them,  likewise,  to  carry  a  considerable 
quantity  of  coin  about  them,  which  they  were  to  convey  silently 
into  the  hands  of  the  better  class  of  poor  men,  as  they  stood  by 


26o  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

them  in  the  market-place.    This,  Cratinus  the  poet  speaks  of  in 
one  of  his  comedies,  the  Archilochi  — 

For  I,  Metrobius  too,  the  scrivener  poor, 
Of  ease  and  comfort  in  my  age  secure 
By  Greece's  noblest  son  in  life's  decline, 
Cimon,  the  generous-hearted,  the  divine, 
Well-fed  and  feasted  hoped  till  death  to  be. 
Death  which,  alas !  has  taken  him  ere  me. 

Gorgias  the  Leontine  gives  him  this  character,  that  he  got  riches 
that  he  might  use  them,  and  used  them  that  he  might  get  honour 
by  them.  And  Critias,  one  of  the  thirty  tyrants,  makes  it,  in  his 
elegies,  his  wish  to  have  — 

The  Scopads'  wealth,  and  Cimon's  nobleness, 
And  King  Agesilaus's  success. 

.  .  .  Cimon,  by  keeping  open  house  for  his  fellow-citizens,  and 
giving  travellers  liberty  to  eat  the  fruits  which  the  several  seasons 
produced  in  his  land,  seemed  to  restore  to  the  world  that  com- 
munity of  goods,  which  mythology  says  existed  in  the  reign  of 
Saturn.  Those  who  object  to  him,  that  he  did  this  to  be  popular 
and  gain  the  applause  of  the  vulgar,  are  confuted  by  the  constant 
tenor  of  the  rest  of  his  actions,  which  all  tended  to  uphold  the 
interests  of  the  nobility  and  the  Spartan  policy,  of  which  he  gave 
instances,  when  together  with  Aristides  he  opposed  Themistocles, 
who  was  advancing  the  authority  of  the  people  beyond  its  just 
limits,  and  resisted  Ephialtes,  who,  to  please  the  multitude,  was 
for  abolishing  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  of  Areopagus.  And 
when  all  of  his  time,  except  Aristides  and  Ephialtes,  enriched 
themselves  out  of  the  public  money,  he  still  kept  his  hands  clean 
and  untainted,  and  to  his  last  day  never  acted  or  spoke  for  his  own 
private  gain  or  emolument. 

Plutarch,  Cifno/i,  5 

All  the  other  points  of  Cimon's  character  were  noble  and  good. 
He  was  as  daring  as  Miltiades,  and  not  inferior  to  Themistocles 
in  judgment,  and  was  incomparably  more  just  and  honest  than 
either  of  them.    Fully  their  equal  in  all  military  virtues,  in  the 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      261 

ordinary  duties  of  a  citizen  at  home  he  was  immeasurably  their 
superior.  And  this,  too,  when  he  was  very  young,  his  years  not 
yet  strengthened  by  any  experience.  For  when  Themistocles,  upon 
the  Median  invasion,  advised  the  Athenians  to  forsake  their  city 
and  their  country,  and  to  carry  all  their  arms  on  shipboard  and 
fight  the  enemy  by  sea,  in  the  straits  of  Salamis  ;  when  all  the 
people  stood  amazed  at  the  confidence  and  rashness  of  this  advice, 
Cimon  was  seen,  the  first  of  all  men,  passing  with  a  cheerful  coun- 
tenance through  the  Ceramicus,  on  his  way  with  his  companions 
to  the  citadel,  carrying  a  bridle  in  his  hand  to  offer  to  the  goddess, 
intimating  that  there  was  no  more  need  of  horsemen  now,  but  of 
mariners.  There,  after  he  had  paid  his  devotions  to  the  goddess, 
and  offered  up  the  bridle,  he  took  down  one  of  the  bucklers  that 
hung  upon  the  walls  of  the  temple,  and  went  down  to  the  port ; 
by  this  example  giving  confidence  to  many  of  the  citizens.  He 
was  also  of  a  fairly  handsome  person,  according  to  the  poet  Ion, 
tall  and  large,  and  let  his  thick  and  curly  hair  grow  long.  After  he 
had  acquitted  himself  gallantly  in  this  battle  of  Salamis,  he  obtained 
great  repute  among  the  Athenians,  and  was  regarded  with  affection, 
as  well  as  admiration.  He  had  many  who  followed  after  him,  and 
bade  him  aspire  to  actions  not  less  famous  than  his  father's  battle 
of  Marathon.  And  when  he  came  forward  in  political  life,  the 
people  welcomed  him  gladly,  being  now  weary  of  Themistocles ; 
in  opposition  to  whom,  and  because  of  the  frankness  and  easiness  of 
his  temper,  which  was  agreeable  to  every  one,  they  advanced  Cimon 
to  the  highest  employments  in  the  government.  The  man  that  con- 
tributed most  to  his  promotion  was  Aristides,  who  early  discerned  in 
his  character  his  natural  capacity,  and  purposely  raised  him,  that  he 
might  be  a  counterpoise  to  the  craft  and  boldness  of  Themistocles. 

Cimon  enjoyed  a  well-deserved  popularity  among  his  fellow- 
citizens,  whom  he  treated  with  great  generosity. 

He  was  ostracized  when  the  hot-headed  populace  blamed  him 
for  too  moderate  a  policy  toward  the  Lacedaemonians,  but  they 
found  they  could  not  do  without  him  and  he  was  soon  recalled. 
He  took  out  a  squadron  to  Egypt  and  Cyprus  and  lost  his  life 
during  the  expedition. 


262  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Plutarch,  Cimon,  17-19 

Some  time  after  this,  the  Lacedaemonians  sent  a  second  time 
to  desire  succours  of  the  Athenians  against  the  Messenians  and 
Helots,  who  had  seized  upon  Ithome.  But  when  they  came,  fearing 
their  boldness  and  gallantry,  of  all  that  came  to  their  assistance, 
they  sent  them  only  back,  alleging  they  were  designing  innovations. 
The  Athenians  returned  home,  enraged  at  this  usage,  and  vented 
their  anger  upon  all  those  who  were  favourers  of  the  Lacedaemo- 
nians, and  seizing  some  slight  occasion,  they  banished  Cimon  for 
ten  years,  which  is  the  time  prescribed  to  those  that  are  banished 
by  the  ostracism.  .  .  , 

Accordingly,  they  did  not  long  retain  their  severity  toward 
Cimon,  partly  upon  remembrance  of  his  former  services,  and 
partly,  perhaps,  induced  by  the  juncture  of  the  times.  For  being 
defeated  at  Tanagra  in  a  great  battle,  and  fearing  the  Peloponne- 
sians  would  come  upon  them  at  the  opening  of  the  spring,  they 
recalled  Cimon  by  a  decree,  of  which  Pericles  himself  was  author. 
So  reasonable  were  men's  resentments  in  those  times,  and  so 
moderate  their  anger,  that  it  always  gave  way  to  the  public  good. 
Even  ambition,  the  least  governable  of  all  human  passions,  could 
then  yield  to  the  necessities  of  the  state. 

Cimon,  as  soon  as  he  returned,  put  an  end  to  the  war,  and  recon- 
ciled the  two  cities.  Peace  thus  established,  seeing  the  Athenians 
impatient  of  being  idle,  and  eager  after  the  honour  and  aggrandise- 
ment of  war,  lest  they  should  set  upon  the  Greeks  themselves,  or 
with  so  many  ships  cruising  about  the  isles  and  Peloponnesus 
they  should  give  occasions  to  intestine  wars,  or  complaints  of  their 
allies  against  them,  he  equipped  two  hundred  galleys,  with  design 
to  make  an  attempt  upon  Egypt  and  Cyprus ;  purposing,  by  this 
means,  to  accustom  the  Athenians  to  fight  against  the  barbarians, 
and  enrich  themselves  honestly  by  spoiling  those  who  were  the 
natural  enemies  of  Greece.  .  .  . 

He  died,  some  say,  of  sickness,  while  besieging  Citium,  in  Cyprus ; 
according  to  others,  of  a  wound  he  received  in  a  skirmish  with  the 
barbarians.  When  he  perceived  he  should  die,  he  commanded 
those  under  his  charge  to  return,  and  by  no  means  to  let  the  news 
of  his  death  be  known  by  the  way ;  this  they  did  with  such  secrecy 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      263 

that  they  all  came  home  safe,  and  neither  their  enemies  nor  the 
allies  knew  what  had  happened.  Thus,  as  Phanodemus  relates, 
the  Grecian  army  was,  as  it  were,  conducted  by  Cimon  thirty  days 
after  he  was  dead.  But  after  his  death  there  was  not  one  com- 
mander among  the  Greeks  that  did  anything  considerable  against 
the  barbarians,  and  instead  of  uniting  against  their  common  ene- 
mies, the  popular  leaders  and  partisans  of  war  animated  them 
against  one  another  to  that  degree,  that  none  could  interpose  their 
good  offices  to  reconcile  them.  And  while,  by  their  mutual  dis- 
cord, they  ruined  the  power  of  Greece,  they  gave  the  Persians  time 
to  recover  breath,  and  repair  all  their  losses. 

Thucydides,  I,  112 

Three  years  afterwards  a  truce  was  made  between  the  Pelopon- 
nesians  and  Athenians  for  five  years.  Released  from  Hellenic  war, 
the  Athenians  made  an  expedition  to  Cyprus  with  two  hundred 
vessels  of  their  own  and  their  allies,  under  the  command  of  Cimon. 
Sixty  of  these  were  detached  to  Egypt  at  the  instance  of  Amyrt^us, 
the  king  in  the  marshes  ;  the  rest  laid  siege  to  Kitium,  from  which, 
however,  they  were  compelled  to  retire  by  the  death  of  Cimon 
and  by  scarcity  of  provisions.  Sailing  off  Salamis  in  Cyprus,  they 
fought  with  the  Phoenicians,  Cyprians,  and  Cilicians  by  land  and 
sea,  and  being  victorious  on  both  elements  departed  home,  and 
with  them  the  returned  squadron  from  Egypt. 

II.    Wars  with  other  Cities 

1.    SPARTA 

The  old  trouble  between  Athens  and  Sparta  broke  out  over  an 
incident  during  the  revolt  of  the  people  of  Ithome.  Those  Athe- 
nians who  had  gone  to  render  assistance  were  treated  with  suspicion 
by  Sparta.  Athens  lost  no  time  in  forming  an  alliance  with  Argos, 
Sparta's  inveterate  enemy. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  friendly  references  to  Argos 
in  the  "Agamemnon"  and  "' Eumenides  "  of  ^schylus  are  an 
indirect  reflection  of  the  relations  recently  established  between 
Athens  and  Argos.     (See  Hill,   "  Sources,"   p.  99.) 


264  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Patisanias,  I,  xxix,  8 

The  alliance  with  Argos  is  said  to  have  been  brought  about  as  fol- 
lows. The  city  of  Lacedaemon  having  been  shaken  by  an  earthquake, 
the  Helots  revolted  and  withdrew  to  Ithome.  On  their  revolt  the 
Lacedaemonians  sent  for  help  to  Athens  and  elsewhere.  The 
Athenians  despatched  to  their  aid  a  body  of  picked  troops  under 
Cimon,  son  of  Miltiades,  but  the  Lacedaemonians  suspected  and 
dismissed  them.  The  insult  appeared  to  the  Athenians  intolerable, 
and  on  their  way  back  they  concluded  an  alliance  with  the  Argives, 
the  eternal  foes  of  Lacedaemon. 

Thucydides,  I,  1 01-103 

So  the  Lacedaemonians  being  engaged  in  a  war  with  the  rebels 
in  Ithome,  the  Thasians  in  the  third  year  of  the  siege  obtained 
terms  from  the  Athenians  by  razing  their  walls,  delivering  up  their 
ships,  and  arranging  to  pay  the  moneys  demanded  at  once,  and 
tribute  in  future  ;  giving  up  their  possessions  on  the  continent 
together  with  the  mine. 

The  Lacedaemonians  meanwhile  finding  the  war  against  the 
rebels  in  Ithome  likely  to  last,  invoked  the  aid  of  their  allies,  and 
especially  of  the  Athenians,  who  came  in  some  force  under  the 
command  of  Cimon.  The  reason  for  this  pressing  summons  lay  in 
their  reputed  skill  in  siege  operations  ;  a  long  siege  had  taught  the 
Lacedaemonians  their  own  deficiency  in  this  art,  else  they  would 
have  taken  the  place  by  assault.  The  first  open  quarrel  between 
the  Lacedaemonians  and  Athenians  arose  out  of  this  expedition 
[to  Thasos].  The  Lacedaemonians,  when  assault  failed  to  take  the 
place,  apprehensive  of  the  enterprising  and  revolutionary  character 
of  the  Athenians,  and  further  looking  upon  them  as  of  alien  ex- 
traction, began  to  fear  that  if  they  remained,  they  might  be  tempted 
by  the  besieged  in  Ithome  to  attempt  some  political  changes.  They 
accordingly  dismissed  them  alone  of  the  allies,  without  declaring 
their  suspicions,  but  merely  saying  that  they  had  now  no  need  of 
them.  But  the  Athenians,  aware  that  their  dismissal  did  not 
proceed  from  the  more  honourable  reason  of  the  two,  but  from 
suspicions  which  had  been  conceived,  went  away  deeply  offended, 
and  conscious  of  having  done  nothing  to  merit  such  treatment 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      265 

from  the  Lacedaemonians  ;  and  the  instant  that  they  returned  home 
they  broke  off  the  alliance  which  had  been  made  against  the  Mede, 
and  allied  themselves  with  Sparta's  enemy  Argos  ;  each  of  the 
contracting  parties  taking  the  same  oaths  and  making  the  same 
alliance  with  the  Thessalians. 

Meanwhile  the  rebels  in  Ithome,  unable  to  prolong  further  a  ten 
years'  resistance,  surrendered  to  Lacedaomon  ;  the  conditions  being 
that  they  should  depart  from  Peloponnese  under  safe  conduct,  and 
should  never  set  foot  in  it  again  :  any  one  who  might  hereafter  be 
found  there  was  to  be  the  slave  of  his  captor.  It  must  be  known 
that  the  Lacedaemonians  had  an  old  oracle  from  Delphi,  to  the 
effect  that  they  should  let  go  the  suppliant  of  Zeus  at  Ithome. 
So  they  went  forth  with  their  children  and  their  wives,  and  being 
received  by  Athens  from  the  hatred  that  she  now  felt  for  the 
Lacedccmonians,  were  located  at  Naupactus,  which  she  had  lately 
taken  from  the  Ozolian  Locrians.  The  Athenians  received  another 
addition  to  their  confederacy  in  the  Megarians ;  who  left  the 
Lacedaemonian  alliance,  annoyed  by  a  war  about  boundaries  forced 
on  them  by  Corinth.  The  Athenians  occupied  Megara  and  Pegae, 
and  built  the  Megarians  their  long  walls  from  the  city  to  Nisaea, 
in  which  they  placed  an  Athenian  garrison.  This  was  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  the  Corinthians  conceiving  such  a  deadly  hatred 
against  Athens. 

The  exiled  Messenians  were  well  treated  by  Athens,  who  helped 
to  settle  them  in  Naupactus. 

A  statue-base  with  the  inscription  quoted  by  Pausanias  has 
been  found  at  Olympia,  but  the  date  of  it  is  still  disputed  (see 
above,  p.  90). 

Pausanias^  V,  xxiv,  3 

On  the  right  of  the  great  temple  is  a  Zeus  looking  to  the  rising 
sun  :  it  is  twelve  feet  high,  and  they  say  that  it  was  dedicated  by 
the  Lacedaemonians  when  they  entered  on  the  second  war  with  the 
rebel  Messenians.    There  is  a  couplet  inscribed  on  it :  — 

Receive,  O  prince,  son  of  Cronus,  Olympian  Zeus,  a  fair  image. 
And  be  propitious  to  the  Lacedaemonians. 


266  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Thncydldcs,  I,  107-108 

Meanwhile  the  Athenians  marched  against  them  with  their  whole 
levy  and  a  thousand  Argives  and  the  respective  contingents  of  the 
rest  of  their  allies.  Altogether  they  were  fourteen  thousand  strong. 
The  march  was  prompted  by  the  notion  that  the  Lacedaemonians 
were  at  a  loss  how  to  effect  their  passage,  and  also  by  suspicions 
of  an  attempt  to  overthrow  the  democracy.  Some  cavalry  also 
joined  the  Athenians  from  their  Thessalian  allies  ;  but  these  went 
over  to  the  Lacedaemonians  during  the  battle. 

The  battle  was  fought  at  Tanagra  in  Boeotia.  After  heavy  loss  on 
both  sides  victory  declared  for  the  Lacedaemonians  and  their  allies. 

After  the  battle  of  Tanagra  votive  offerings  were  set  up  by  the 
Lacedaemonians  in  the  temple  of  Zeus  at  Olympia. 

The  second  of  the  following  inscriptions  quoted  by  Pausanias 
is  attributed  to  Simonides. 

Pausanias,  V,  x,  2 

The  temple  and  image  of  Zeus  were  made  from  the  booty  at  the 
time  when  the  Eleans  conquered  Pisa  and  the  vassal  states  that 
revolted  with  her.  That  the  image  was  made  by  Phidias  is  attested 
by  the  inscription  under  the  feet  of  Zeus  :  — 

Phidias,  Charmides'  son,  an  Athenian,  made  me. 

The  temple  is  built  in  the  Doric  style,  and  columns  run  all  round 
it  on  the  outside.  It  is  made  of  native  conglomerate.  The  height 
of  it  up  to  the  gable  is  sixty-eight  feet,  its  breadth  ninety-five,  its 
length  two  hundred  and  thirty.    The  architect  was  Libon,  a  native. 

Pausanias,  V,  x,  4 

A  gilt  kettle  is  set  on  each  extremity  of  the  roof  of  the  temple 
at  Olympia  ;  and  a  Victory,  also  gilt,  stands  just  at  the  middle  of 
the  gable.  Under  the  image  of  Victory  is  hung  a  golden  shield 
with  the  Gorgon  Medusa  wrought  in  relief  on  it.  The  inscription 
on  the  shield  sets  forth  the  persons  who  dedicated  it  and  their  reason 
for  doing  so.    It  runs  thus  :  — 

The  temple  hath  a  golden  shield :  from  Tanagra 
The  Lacedaemonians  and  their  allies  brought  it  and  dedicated  it 
As  a  gift  taken  from  the  Argives,  Athenians,  and  lonians, 
^  The  tithe  offered  in  acknowledgment  of  victory  in  the  war. 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      267 


2.  CONQUEST  OF  /EGINA 

The  long-continued  struggle  between  Athens  and  yEgina  was 
finally  ended  at  this  time.  yEgina  became  a  member  of  the 
confederacy. 


Thiicydides,  I,  105,  108 

Subsequently  war  broke  out  between  yEgina  and  Athens,  and 
there  was  a  great  battle  at  sea  off  yEgina  between  the  Athenians 
and  yEginetans,  each  being  aided  by  their  allies  ;  in  which  victory 
remained  with  the  Athenians,  who  took  seventy  of  the  enemy's 
ships,  and  landed  in  the  country  and  commenced  a  siege  under  the 
command  of  Leocrates,  son  of  Stroebus,  Upon  this  the  Pelopon- 
nesians,  desirous  of  aiding  the  yEginetans,  threw  into  yEgina  a  force 
of  three  hundred  heavy  infantry,  who  had  before  been  serving  with 
the  Corinthians  and  Epidaurians,  Meanwhile  the  Corinthians  and 
their  allies  occupied  the  heights  of  Geraneia,  and  marched  down 
into  the  Megarid,  in  the  belief  that  with  a  large  force  absent  in 
yEgina  and  Egypt,  Athens  would  be  unable  to  help  the  Megarians 
without  raising  the  siege  of  yEgina.  But  the  Athenians,  instead  of 
moving  the  army  of  yEgina,  raised  a  force  of  the  old  and  young 
men  that  had  been  left  in  the  city,  and  marched  into  the  Megarid 
under  the  command  of  Myronides.  After  a  drawn  battle  with  the 
Corinthians,  the  rival  hosts  parted,  each  with  the  impression  that 
they  had  gained  the  victory.  The  Athenians,  however,  if  anything, 
had  rather  the  advantage,  and  on  the  departure  of  the  Corinthians 
set  up  a  trophy.  Urged  by  the  taunts  of  the  elders  in  their  city,  the 
Corinthians  made  their  preparations,  and  about  twelve  days  after- 
wards came  and  set  up  their  trophy  as  victors.  Sallying  out  from 
Megara,  the  Athenians  cut  off  the  party  that  was  employed  in 
erecting  the  trophy,  and  engaged  and  defeated  the  rest.  In  the 
retreat  of  the  vanquished  army,  a  considerable  division,  pressed  by 
the  pursuers  and  mistaking  the  road,  dashed  into  a  field  on  some 
private  property,  with  a  deep  trench  all  round  it,  and  no  way  out. 
Being  acquainted  with  the  place,  the  Athenians  hemmed  their  front 
with  heavy  infantry,  and  placing  the  light  troops  round  in  a  circle, 
stoned  all  who  had  grone  in,    Corinth  here  suffered  a  severe  blow. 


268  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

The  bulk  of  her  army  continued  its  retreat  home.  .  .  .  This  was 
followed  by  the  surrender  of  the  ^Eginetans  to  Athens  on  conditions ; 
they  pulled  down  their  walls,  gave  up  their  ships,  and  agreed  to  pay 
tribute  in  future. 

III.    Pericles 

Leadership  of  the  Athenians  now  passed  to  Pericles,  under 
whom  Athens  reached  the  culmination  of  democratic  government, 
wise  expansion,  and  artistic  glory. 

1.  EARLY  CAREER 
Plutarch,  Feric/es,  3,  7 

Pericles  was  of  the  tribe  Acamantis,  and  the  township  Cholargus, 
of  the  noblest  birth  both  on  his  father's  and  mother's  side.  Xan- 
thippus,  his  father,  who  defeated  the  King  of  Persia's  generals  in 
the  battle  at  Mycale,  took  to  wife  Agariste,  the  grandchild  of  Clis- 
thenes,  who  drove  out  the  sons  of  Pisistratus,  and  nobly  put  an 
end  to  their  tyrannical  usurpation,  and,  moreover,  made  a  body  of 
laws,  and  settled  a  model  of  government  admirably  tempered  and 
suited  for  the  harmony  and  safety  of  the  people.  .   .   . 

Pericles,  while  yet  but  a  young  man,  stood  in  considerable  appre- 
hension of  the  people,  as  he  was  thought  in  face  and  figure  to  be 
very  like  the  tyrant  Pisistratus,  and  those  of  great  age  remarked 
upon  the  sweetness  of  his  voice,  and  his  volubility  and  rapidity  in 
speaking,  and  were  struck  with  amazement  at  the  resemblance.  Re- 
flecting, too,  that  he  had  a  considerable  estate,  and  was  descended 
of  a  noble  family,  and  had  friends  of  great  influence,  he  was  fearful 
all  this  might  bring  him  to  be  banished  as  a  dangerous  person  ; 
and  for  this  reason  meddled  not  at  all  with  state  affairs,  but  in 
military  service  showed  himself  of  a  brave  and  intrepid  nature. 
But  when  Aristides  was  now  dead,  and  Themistocles  driven  out, 
and  Cimon  was  for  the  most  part  kept  abroad  by  the  expeditions 
he  made  in  parts  out  of  Greece,  Pericles,  seeing  things  in  this  pos- 
ture, now  advanced  and  took  his  side,  not  with  the  rich  and  few, 
but  with  the  many  and  poor,  contrary  to  his  natural  bent,  which 
was  far  from  democratical ;  but,  most  likely  fearing  he  might  fall 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      269 

under  suspicion  of  aiming  at  arbitrary  power,  and  seeing  Cimon  on 
the  side  of  the  aristocracy,  and  much  beloved  by  the  better  and  more 
distinguished  people,  he  joined  the  party  of  the  people,  with  a  view 
at  once  both  to  secure  himself  and  procure  means  against  Cimon. 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  1 1 

And  the  aristocratical  party,  seeing  that  Pericles  was  already 
before  this  grown  to  be  the  greatest  and  foremost  man  of  all  the 
city,  but  nevertheless  wishing  there  should  be  somebody  set  up 
against  him,  to  blunt  and  turn  the  edge  of  his  power,  that  it  might 
not  altogether  prove  a  monarchy,  put  forward  Thucydides  of  Alop- 
ece,^  a  discreet  person,  and  a  near  kinsman  of  Cimon 's,  to  conduct 
the  opposition  against  him  ;  who,  indeed,  though  less  skilled  in 
warlike  affairs  than  Cimon  was,  yet  was  better  versed  in  speaking 
and  political  business  and  keeping  close  guard  in  the  city,  and,  en- 
gaging with  Pericles  on  the  hustings,  in  a  short  time  brought  the 
government  to  an  equality  of  parties.  For  he  would  not  suffer  those 
who  were  called  the  honest  and  good  (persons  of  worth  and  dis- 
tinction) to  be  scattered  up  and  down  and  mix  themselves  and  be 
lost  among  the  populace,  as  formerly,  diminishing  and  obscuring 
their  superiority  amongst  the  masses  ;  but  taking  them  apart  by 
themselves  and  uniting  them  in  one  body,  by  their  combined  weight 
he  was  able,  as  it  were  upon  the  balance,  to  make  a  counterpoise 
to  the  other  party. 

For,  indeed,  there  was  from  the  beginning  a  sort  of  concealed 
split,  or  seam,  as  it  might  be  in  a  piece  of  iron,  marking  the  differ- 
ent popular  and  aristocratical  tendencies  ;  but  the  open  rivalry  and 
contention  of  these  two  opponents  made  the  gash  deep,  and  sev- 
ered the  city  into  the  two  parties  of  the  people  and  the  few.  And 
so  Pericles,  at  that  time,  more  than  at  any  other,  let  loose  the  reins 
to  the  people,  and  made  his  policy  subservient  to  their  pleasure, 
contriving  continually  to  have  some  great  public  show  or  solemnity, 
some  banquet,  or  some  procession  or  other  in  the  town  to  please 
them,  coaxing  his  countrymen  like  children  with  such  dl^lights  and 
pleasures  as  were  not,  however,  unedifying.    Besides  that  every 

iThis  is,  of  course,  not  the  historian  but  Thucydides,  son  of  Melesias,an  able  conservative 
leader.   See  Aristotle,  "Constitution  of  Athens,"  XX\'III. 


270  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

year  he  sent  out  threescore  galleys,  on  board  of  which  there  were 
numbers  of  the  citizens,  who  were  in  pay  eight  months,  learning 
at  the  same  time  and  practising  the  art  of  seamanship. 

2.  REDUCTION  OF  EUBCEA 
Thucydides,  I,  114 

The  Athenians  then  crossed  over  again  to  Euboea  under  the 

command  of  Pericles,  and  subdued  the  whole  of  the  island  :  all  but 

Histiaea  was  settled  by  convention  ;  the  Histiaeans  they  expelled 

from  their  homes,  and  occupied  their  territory  themselves. 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  23 

Immediately  after  this,  turning  his  forces  against  the  revolters, 
and  passing  over  into  the  island  of  Euboea  with  fifty  sail  of  ships 
and  five  thousand  men  in  arms,  he  reduced  their  cities,  and  drove 
out  the  citizens  of  the  Chalcidians,  called  Hippobotae,  horse-feeders, 
the  chief  persons  for  wealth  and  reputation  among  them  ;  and  re- 
moving all  the  Histiaeans  out  of  the  country,  brought  in  a  planta- 
tion of  Athenians  in  their  room ;  making  them  his  one  example 
of  severity,  because  they  had  captured  an  Attic  ship  and  killed  all 
on  board. 

Aristophanes,  Clouds,  211  ff. 

"  The  Euboean  land,  as  you  see,  already  lies  stretched  out  along- 
side (Attica)  to  a  great  length." 

"  I  see,  for  it  was  set  alongside  by  us  and  Pericles." 

The  acquisition  of  Euboea  was  a  great  gain  for  many  reasons. 
This  inscription  belongs  to  the  same  class  as  that  already  quoted 
for  Erythras,  and  settles  the  form  of  government,  taxes,  and 
general  status  of  the  city  of  Chalcis. 

Hicks  <ind  Hill,  40 

Settlement  of  Chalcis,  b.c.  446 

It  was  voted  by  the  senate  and  people.  Antiochis  was  the 
prytanizing  tribe  ;   Dracontides  presided. 

Diognetus  moved  :  That  the  oath  be  taken  by  the  senate  and 
judges  of   the   Athenians   as   follows:  —  "I    will    not   exile  the 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      271 

Chalcidians  from  Chalcis  nor  lay  waste  the  city,  nor  will  I  deprive 
any  citizen  of  his  rights,  nor  banish  nor  arrest  nor  kill  nor  confiscate 
the  property  of  anyone  who  has  not  been  tried  by  the  Athenian 
people,  nor  will  I  put  to  vote  without  proper  summons  any  charge 
against  the  community  or  any  individual ;  and  any  embassy  which 
comes  I  will  conduct  before  the  senate  within  ten  days,  whenever 
I  am  presiding,  to  the  best  of  my  power ;  and  I  will  ratify  this  to 
the  Chalcidians  as  long  as  they  are  obedient  to  the  people  of 
Athens."  The  embassy  which  comes  from  Chalcis  shall  have 
opportunity  to  take  this  oath  with  the  commissioners  and  those 
Athenians  who  have  taken  it  shall  be  recorded.  The  generals  are 
to  be  responsible  that  all  take  the  oath. 

The  Chalcidians  are  to  take  oath  as  follows  :  —  "I  will  not  re- 
volt from  the  people  of  Athens  in  any  way  or  manner,  either  in 
word  or  deed,  nor  will  I  yield  to  anyone  who  seeks  to  revolt,  and 
if  anyone  tries  to  make  me  revolt  I  will  denounce  him  to  the 
Athenians,  and  I  will  pay  to  the  Athenians  the  tribute  which  we 
agree  on,  and  I  shall  be  the  best  and  fairest  ally  that  I  can,  and  I 
will  help  the  people  of  the  Athenians  and  defend  them  if  anyone 
wrong  them,  and  I  will  be  obedient  to  the  Athenians."  All  adult 
Chalcidians  are  to  take  this  oath.  Whoever  refuses  to  take  it  is 
to  be  disfranchised  and  his  property  confiscated,  and  one  tenth  of 
his  property  is  to  go  to  Olympian  Zeus.  And  the  embassy  of  the 
Athenians  on  its  arrival  at  Chalcis  shall  administer  the  oath  with 
the  commissioners  in  Chalcis  and  those  of  the  Chalcidians  that 
have  taken  it  are  to  be  recorded. 

Anticles  moved  :  For  good  fortune  to  Athens,  that  the  Athe- 
nians and  Chalcidians  take  the  oath  just  as  the  Athenian  people 
decreed  for  the  Eretrians.  The  generals  are  to  see  that  it  is  done 
as  soon  as  possible.  The  people  are  forthwith  to  choose  five  men 
who  on  their  arrival  at  Chalcis  shall  administer  the  oath.  With 
reference  to  the  hostages  this  answer  is  to  be  given  to  the  Chal- 
cidians :  —  That  for  the  present  the  Athenians  think  it  best  to 
leave  things  as  decided,  but  if,  after  having  taken  counsel,  it  seems 
best  to  them  they  will  make  a  settlement  as  may  seem  suitable 
to  Athenians  and  Chalcidians.  Aliens  resident  in  Chalcis,  unless 
while  inhabiting  there  they  pay  taxes  at  Athens  or  unless  they 


272  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

have  been  granted  immunity  by  the  Athenians,  are  to  pay  in  Chal- 
cis  just  Hke  other  Chalcidians. 

The  secretary  of  the  senate  is  to  have  this  decree  and  oath  in- 
scribed at  Athens  on  a  stone  slab  and  set  up  on  the  AcropoHs,  at 
the  expense  of  the  Chalcidians ;  and  in  Chalcis  the  senate  of  the 
Chalcidians  is  to  have  it  inscribed  and  set  up  in  the  precinct  of 
Olympian  Zeus, 

These  are  the  matters  decreed  about  the  Chalcidians, 

The  sacrifices  in  obedience  to  the  oracles  about  Euboea  are  to 
be  performed  as  soon  as  possible,  in  conjunction  with  Hierocles 
by  three  men  whom  the  senate  is  to  choose  from  its  own  members. 
The  generals  are  to  be  jointly  responsible  to  see  that  it  is  done  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  they  are  to  furnish  funds  for  it. 

Archestratus  moved  :  That  the  motion  of  Anticles  be  amended 
as  follows  :  —  That  punishments  for  Chalcidians  shall  be  settled 
by  themselves  at  Chalcis,  just  as  the  Athenians  do  at  Athens,  ex- 
cept in  cases  of  exile,  death  and  disfranchisement.  That  concern- 
ing these  matters  there  be  appeal  at  Athens  to  the  heliastic  courts 
of  the  thesmothetae  in  accordance  with  the  decree  of  the  people. 
The  generals  are  to  see  to  their  best  ability  about  garrisoning  of 
Euboea,  that  it  may  be  for  the  best  advantage  of  the  Athenians. 

Oath. 

3.  COLONIZING  POLICY 
Pericles  realized  that  some  outlet  must  be  found  for  the  surplus 
population.  Attention  has  more  than  once  been  called  to  the  fact 
that  Athens  was  never  in  a  position  of  economic  independence 
and  easily  became  overcrowded.  Southern  Italy,  the  Chersonese, 
and  the  Euxine  were  among  the  districts  to  which  colonies  were 
sent  out.  The  suggestion  has  been  made  that  the  settlements 
near  the  Black  Sea,  as  well  as  the  ill-fated  expedition  to  Egypt, 
were  intended  to  establish  Athenian  centers  in  the  corn-growing 
districts  in  order  to  secure  a  sure  food  supply.  Athens  thus  aimed 
to  anticipate  any  interference  on  the  part  of  her  enemies  who 
might  attempt  to  cut  her  off  from  these  centers. 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      273 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  11,  19-20 

He  sent,  moreover,  a  thousand  of  them  into  the  Chersonese  as 
planters,  to  share  the  land  among  them  by  lot,  and  five  hundred 
more  into  the  isle  of  Naxos,  and  half  that  number  to  Andros,  a 
thousand  into  Thrace  to  dwell  among  the  Bisaltas,  and  others  into 
Italy,  when  the  city  Sybaris,  which  now  was  called  Thurii,  was  to 
be  repeopled.  And  this  he  did  to  ease  and  discharge  the  city  of 
an  idle,  and,  by  reason  of  their  idleness,  a  busy,  meddling  crowd 
of  people  ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  meet  the  necessities  and  restore 
the  fortunes  of  the  poor  townsmen,  and  to  intimidate,  also,  and 
check  their  allies  from  attempting  any  change,  by  posting  such 
garrisons,  as  it  were,  in  the  midst  of  them.  .  .  . 

But  of  all  his  expeditions,  that  to  the  Chersonese  gave  most 
satisfaction  and  pleasure,  having  proved  the  safety  of  the  Greeks 
who  inhabited  there.  For  not  only  by  carrying  along  with  him  a 
thousand  fresh  citizens  of  Athens  he  gave  new  strength  and  vigour 
to  the  cities,  but  also  by  belting  the  neck  of  land,  which  joins  the 
peninsula  to  the  continent,  with  bulwarks  and  forts  from  sea  to 
sea,  he  put  a  stop  to  the  inroads  of  the  Thracians,  who  lay  all  about 
the  Chersonese,  and  closed  the  door  against  a  continual  and  griev- 
ous war,  with  which  that  country  had  been  long  harassed,  lying 
exposed  to  the  encroachments  and  influx  of  barbarous  neighbours, 
and  groaning  under  the  evils  of  a  predatory  population  both  upon 
and  within  its  borders.  .  .  . 

Entering  also  the  Euxine  Sea  with  a  large  and  finely  equipped 
fleet,  he  obtained  for  the  Greek  cities  any  new  arrangements  they 
wanted,  and  entered  into  friendly  relations  with  them  ;  and  to  the 
barbarous  nations,  and  kings  and  chiefs  round  about  them,  dis- 
played the  greatness  of  the  power  of  the  Athenians,  their  perfect 
ability  and  confidence  to  sail  wherever  they  had  a  mind,  and  to 
bring  the  whole  sea  under  their  control.  He  left  the  Sinopians 
thirteen  ships  of  war,  with  soldiers  under  the  command  of  Lamachus, 
to  assist  them  against  Timesileus  the  tyrant ;  and  when  he  and  his 
accomplices  had  been  thrown  out,  obtained  a  decree  that  six  hun- 
dred of  the  Athenians  that  were  willing  should  sail  to  Sinope  and 
plant  themselves  there  with  the  Sinopians,  sharing  am.ong  them  the 
houses  and  land  which  the  tyrant  and  his  party  had  previously  held. 


274  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Only  one  inscription  has  been  found  about  the  estabhshment 
of  a  colony,  and  we  have  no  express  mention  of  Brea  in  literary 
records.  That  it  was  one  of  the  Thracian  settlements  referred  to 
by  Plutarch  is  practically  certain. 

The  details  of  mutual  relations,  etc.,  are  most  valuable.  {See 
note  on  Hicks  and  Hill,  41,) 

Hicks  and  Hill,  \\ 

Colony  to  Brea,  b.c.  446-444 

.  .  .  but  if  anyone  introduces  [certain  forbidden  articles]  the 
person  informing  against  him  or  prosecuting  shall  seize  him  as 
security.  And  the  founders  shall  furnish  as  many  herds  of  goats 
as  seems  best  to  those  who  sacrifice  for  favorable  omens  on  behalf 
of  the  colony.  Let  the  land  commissioners  choose  ten  men,  one 
from  each  tribe.  These  latter  are  to  assign  the  land.  Democlides 
with  full  power  is  to  establish  the  colony  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 
The  reserved  precincts  are  to  be  left  as  they  are  and  no  others  are 
to  be  set  aside.  A  full  suit  of  armor  is  to  be  sent  to  the  great 
Panathenasa  and  a  phallus  to  the  great  Dionysia.  If  anyone  leads 
an  expedition  against  the  land  of  the  colonists,  the  cities  are  to 
help  with  all  speed  according  to  the  agreements  which  in  the  sec- 
retaryship of  .  .  .  were  made  about  the  cities  in  Thrace.  This  is 
to  be  inscribed  on  a  slab  and  set  up  on  the  Acropolis,  and  the 
colonists  are  to  furnish  the  slab  at  their  own  expense.  If  any 
chairman  let  a  question  come  to  vote  against  the  decree  or  any 
orator  speaks  or  tries  to  urge  anyone  to  rescind  it  or  to  break 
any  of  the  resolutions,  he  shall  lose  his  civil  rights,  and  his  chil- 
dren shall  also,  and  his  property  shall  be  confiscated  and  one 
tenth  given  to  the  god,  unless  the  colonists  themselves  make  some 
request  on  their  own  behalf. 

Whichever  of  the  soldiers  shall  have  been  enrolled  as  pro- 
spective colonists  shall  within  thirty  days  after  arrival  in  Athens 
be  in  Brea  to  take  up  residence.  The  colony  shall  set  out  within 
thirty  days,  ^schines  shall  follow  and  hand  over  money  for 
expenses. 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      275 

Phantoclcs  moved  the  following  amendment  to  Democlides' 
motion  :  That  the  presidents  of  Erechtheis  introduce  Phantocles  to 
the  senate  at  the  first  session  ;  and  that  thetes  and  zeugitae  go  as 
colonists  to  Brea. 

4.  PUBLIC  WORKS 

The  remains  of  the  Periclean  buildings  form  the  best  commen- 
tary on  this  passage  about  the  public  works  of  Pericles. 

Two  inscriptions  remain  in  fragmentary  condition  relating  to 
the  building  of  the  temple  of  Wingless  Victory  and  the  Parthenon, 
with  some  account  of  the  moneys  expended. 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  12-13 

That  which  gave  most  pleasure  and  ornament  to  the  city  of 
Athens,  and  the  greatest  admiration  and  even  astonishment  to  all 
strangers,  and  that  which  now  is  Greece's  only  evidence  that  the 
power  she  boasts  of  and  her  ancient  wealth  are  no  romance  or  idle 
story,  was  his  construction  of  the  public  and  sacred  buildings.  Yet 
this  was  that  of  all  his  actions  in  the  government  which  his  enemies 
most  looked  askance  upon  and  cavilled  at  in  the  popular  assemblies, 
crying  out  how  that  the  commonwealth  of  Athens  had  lost  its  repu- 
tation and  was  ill-spoken  of  abroad  for  removing  the  common  treas- 
ure of  the  Greeks  from  the  isle  of  Delos  into  their  own  custody ; 
and  how  that  their  fairest  excuse  for  so  doing,  namely,  that  they 
took  it  away  for  fear  the  barbarians  should  seize  it,  and  on  purpose 
to  secure  it  in  a  safe  place,  this  Pericles  had  made  unavailable,  and 
how  that  "  Greece  cannot  but  resent  it  as  an  insufferable  affront, 
and  consider  herself  to  be  tyrannised  over  openly,  when  she  sees 
the  treasure,  which  was  contributed  by  her  upon  a  necessity  for  the 
war,  wantonly  lavished  out  by  us  upon  our  city,  to  gild  her  all  over, 
and  to  adorn  and  set  her  forth,  as  it  were  some  vain  woman,  hung 
round  with  precious  stones  and  figures  and  temples,  which  cost  a 
world  of  money." 

Pericles,  on  the  other  hand,  informed  the  people,  that  they  were 
in  no  way  oJDliged  to  give  any  account  of  those  moneys  to  their 
allies,  so  long  as  they  maintained  their  defence,  and  kept  off  the 


2/6  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

barbarians  from  attacking  them  ;  while  in  the  meantime  they  did 
not  so  much  as  supply  one  horse  or  man  or  ship,  but  only  found 
money  for  the  service;  "which  money,"  said  he,  "is  not  theirs 
that  give  it,  but  theirs  that  receive  it,  if  so  be  they  perform  the  con- 
ditions upon  which  they  receive  it."  And  that  it  was  good  reason, 
that,  now  the  city  was  sufficiently  provided  and  stored  with  all 
things  necessary  for  the  war,  they  should  convert  the  overplus  of 
its  wealth  to  such  undertakings  as  would  hereafter,  when  com- 
pleted, give  them  eternal  honour,  and,  for  the  present,  while  in 
process,  freely  supply  all  the  inhabitants  with  plenty.  With  their 
variety  of  workmanship  and  of  occasions  for  service,  which  sum- 
mon all  arts  and  trades  and  require  all  hands  to  be  employed  about 
them,  they  do  actually  put  the  whole  city,  in  a  manner,  into  state- 
pay  ;  while  at  the  same  time  she  is  both  beautified  and  maintained 
by  herself.  For  as  those  who  are  of  age  and  strength  for  war  are 
provided  for  and  maintained  in  the  armaments  abroad  by  their  pay 
out  of  the  public  stock,  so,  it  being  his  desire  and  design  that  the 
undisciplined  mechanic  multitude  that  stayed  at  home  should  not 
go  without  their  share  of  public  salaries,  and  yet  should  not  have 
them  given  them  for  sitting  still  and  doing  nothing,  to  that  end  he 
thought  fit  to  bring  in  among  them,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
people,  these  vast  projects  of  buildings  and  designs  of  work,  that 
would  be  of  some  continuance  before  they  were  finished,  and 
would  give  employment  to  numerous  arts,  so  that  the  part  of 
the  people  that  stayed  at  home  might,  no  less  than  those  that 
were  at  sea  or  in  garrisons  or  on  expeditions,  have  a  fair  and  just 
occasion  of  receiving  the  benefit  and  having  their  share  of  the 
public  moneys. 

The  materials  were  stone,  brass,  ivory,  gold,  ebony,  cypress-wood  ; 
and  the  arts  or  trades  that  wrought  and  fashioned  them  were  smiths 
and  carpenters,  moulders,  founders  and  braziers,  stone-cutters, 
dyers,  goldsmiths,  ivory-workers,  painters,  embroiderers,  turners  ; 
those  again  that  conveyed  them  to  the  town  for  use,  merchants 
and  mariners  and  ship-masters  by  sea,  and  by  land,  cartwrights, 
cattle-breeders,  waggoners,  rope-makers,  flax-workers,  shoemakers 
and  leather-dressers,  road-makers,  miners.  And  every  trade  in  the 
same  nature,  as  a  captain  in  an  army  has  his  particular  company 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      277 

of  soldiers  under  him,  had  its  own  hired  company  of  journeymen 
and  labourers  belonging  to  it  banded  together  as  in  array,  to  be  as 
it  were  the  instrument  and  body  for  the  performance  of  the  service. 
Thus,  to  say  all  in  a  word,  the  occasions  and  services  of  these 
public  works  distributed  plenty  through  every  age  and  condition. 

As  then  grew  the  works  up,  no  less  stately  in  size  than  exquisite 
in  form,  the  workmen  striving  to  outvie  the  material  and  the  de- 
sign with  the  beauty  of  their  workmanship,  yet  the  most  wonderful 
thing  of  all  was  the  rapidity  of  their  execution. 

Undertakings,  any  one  of  which  singly  might  have  required, 
they  thought,  for  their  completion,  several  successions  and  ages 
of  men,  were  every  one  of  them  accomplished  in  the  height  and 
prime  of  one  man's  political  service.  Although  they  say,  too,  that 
Zeuxis  once,  having  heard  Agatharchus  the  painter  boast  of  de- 
spatching his  work  with  speed  and  ease,  replied,  "  I  take  a  long 
time."  For  ease  and  speed  in  doing  a  thing  do  not  give  the  work 
lasting  solidity  or  exactness  of  beauty ;  the  expenditure  of  time 
allowed  to  a  man's  pains  beforehand  for  the  production  of  a  thing 
is  repaid  by  way  of  interest  with  a  vital  force  for  the  preservation 
when  once  produced.  For  which  reason  Pericles's  works  are  espe- 
cially admired,  as  having  been  made  quickly,  to  last  long.  For 
every  particular  piece  of  his  work  was  immediately,  even  at  that 
time,  for  its  beauty  and  elegance,  antique ;  and  yet  in  its  vigour 
and  freshness  looks  to  this  day  as  if  it  were  just  executed.  There 
is  a  sort  of  bloom  of  newness  upon  those  works  of  his,  preserving 
them  from  the  touch  of  time,  as  if  they  had  some  perennial  spirit 
and  undying  vitality  mingled  in  the  composition  of  them. 

Phidias  had  the  oversight  of  all  the  works,  and  was  surveyor- 
general,  though  upon  the  various  portions  other  great  masters  and 
workmen  were  employed.  For  Callicrates  and  Ictinus  built  the 
Parthenon ;  the  chapel  at  Eleusis,  where  the  mysteries  were  cele- 
brated, was  begun  by  Coroebus,  who  erected  the  pillars  that  stand 
upon  the  floor  or  pavement,  and  joined  them  to  the  architraves  ; 
and  after  his  death  Metagenes  of  Xypete  added  the  frieze  and  the 
upper  line  of  columns  ;  Xenocles  of  Cholargus  roofed  or  arched 
the  lantern  on  top  of  the  temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux  ;  and  the 
long  wall,  which  Socrates  says  he  himself  heard  Pericles  propose 


2/8  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

to  the  people,  was  undertaken  by  Callicrates.    This  work  Cratinus 
ridicules,  as  long  in  finishing  — 

'T  is  long  since  Pericles,  if  words  would  do  it, 
Talked  up  the  wall ;  yet  adds  not  one  mite  to  it. 

The  Odeum,  or  music-room,  which  in  its  interior  was  full  of 
seats  and  ranges  of  pillars,  and  outside  had  its  roof  made  to  slope 
and  descend  from  one  single  point  at  the  top,  was  constructed,  we 
are  told,  in  imitation  of  the  King  of  Persia's  Pavilion  ;  this  like- 
wise by  Pericles's  order ;  which  Cratinus  again,  in  his  comedy 
called  the  Thracian  Women,  made  an  occasion  of  raillery  — 

So,  we  see  here. 

The  Long-pate  Zeus,  our  Pericles  appear, 
Since  ostracism  time,  he  's  laid  aside  his  head, 
And  wears  the  new  Odeum  in  its  stead. 

Pericles,  also  eager  for  distinction,  then  first  obtained  the  decree 
for  a  contest  in  musical  skill  to  be  held  yearly  at  the  Panathenasa, 
and  he  himself,  being  chosen  judge,  arranged  the  order  and  method 
in  which  the  competitors  should  sing  and  play  on  the  flute  and  on 
the  harp.  And  both  at  that  time,  and  at  other  times  also,  they  sat 
in  this  music-room  to  see  and  hear  all  such  trials  of  skill. 

The  propylsea,  or  entrances  to  the  Acropolis,  were  finished  in 
five  years'  time,  Mnesicles  being  the  principal  architect,  A  strange 
accident  happened  in  the  course  of  building,  which  showed  that  the 
goddess  was  not  averse  to  the  work,  but  was  aiding  and  co-operating 
to  bring  it  to  perfection.  One  of  the  artificers,  the  quickest  and 
the  handiest  workman  among  them  all,  with  a  slip  of  his  foot 
fell  down  from  a  great  height,  and  lay  in  a  miserable  condition, 
the  physicians  having  no  hope  of  his  recovery.  When  Pericles 
was  in  distress  about  this,  Athena  appeared  to  him  at  night  in  a 
dream,  and  ordered  a  course  of  treatment,  which  he  applied,  and 
in  a  short  time  and  with  great  ease  cured  the  man.  And  upon  this 
occasion  it  was  that  he  set  up  a  brass  statue  of  Athena,  surnamed 
Health,  in  the  citadel  near  the  altar,  which  they  say  was  there  be- 
fore. But  it  was  Phidias  who  wrought  the  goddess's  image  in  gold, 
and  he  has  his  name  inscribed  on  the  pedestal  as  the  workman  of 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      279 

it ;  and  indeed  the  whole  work  in  a  manner  was  under  liis  charge, 
and  he  had,  as  we  have  said  ah"eady,  the  oversight  over  all  the 
artists  and  workmen,  through  Pericles's  friendship  for  him. 

Hicks  a  fid  Hill,  37 

Temple  of  Athena  Nike,  arout  b.c.  450-446 

.  .  .  moved  :  That  a  priestess  of  Athena  Nike,  who  may  be  any 
native  woman  born  of  native  parents,  be  appointed  and  the  sanc- 
tuary furnished  with  a  door  according  to  the  specifications  of  Cal- 
licrates,  and  the  contractors  shall  let  out  the  contract  in  the  prytany 
of  Leontis,  and  the  priestess  is  to  draw  as  pay  fifty  drachmas  and 
the  legs  and  skins  of  the  victims,  and  the  temple  and  a  stone  altar 
are  to  be  built  according  to  the  specifications  of  Callicrates. 

Hestiaeus  moved  :  To  choose  three  men  from  the  senate  who 
together  with  Callicrates  shall  draw  up  the  contract  and  report  to 
the  senate  what  they  decide  about  letting  out  the  contract.  .  .  . 

Voted  by  the  senate  and  the  people,  yEgeis  was  prytanizing 
tribe,  Neoclides  was  secretary ;  Hagnodemus  presided. 

Callias  moved  :  That  the  colacretae  in  office  in  the  month  of 
Poseideon  pay  over  regularly  to  the  priestess  of  Athena  Nike  the 
fifty  drachmas  indicated  on  the  stele.  .  .  . 

Hicks  and  Hill,  47 

Building  of  the  Parthenon,  b.c.  438 

The  Gods,  Athena,  Fortune 

Cichesippus  of  Myrrhinous  was  secretary  for  those  who  had 
charge  of  setting  up  the  statue. 
Receipts  from  .  .  .  [unfinished] 

Cichesippus  of  Myrrhinous  was  secretaiy  for  those  who  had 
charge  of  setting  up  the  statue. 

Receipts  from  the  treasurers  for  whom  Demostratus  of  Xupete 
was  secretary ;  treasurers  were  Ctesion,  Strosias,  Antiphates, 
Menander,  Thymochares,   Smocordus,   Phidelides,  — 

100  talents. 


28o  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Spent : 

87  talents,  4652  drachmas  for  gold,  (weight,  6  talents,  1500 
drachmas,    5   obols). 

2  talents,  743  drachmas  for  ivory.   .  .  , 

5.  THE  ATHENIAN  NAVY 

These  three  passages,  which  refer  to  conditions  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  Peloponnesian  War,  show  clearly  that  the  Athenians  realized 
that  their  chief  strength  lay  in  the  fleet  and  the  consequent  con- 
trol of  the  sea. 

Thiicydides,  II,  13-14 

He  also  gave  the  citizens  some  advice  on  their  present  affairs 
in  the  same  strain  as  before.  They  were  to  prepare  for  the  war, 
and  to  carry  in  their  property  from  the  country.  They  were  not 
to  go  out  to  battle;  but  to  come  into  the  city  and  guard  it,  and  get 
ready  their  fleet,  in  which  their  real  strength  lay.   .   .   . 

The  Phaleric  wall  ran  for  four  miles,  before  it  joined  that  round 
the  city ;  and  of  this  last  nearly  five  had  a  guard,  although  part  of 
it  was  left  without  one,  viz.  that  between  the  Long  Wall  and  the 
Phaleric.  Then  there  were  the  Long  Walls  to  Piraeus,  a  distance 
of  some  four  miles  and  a  half,  the  outer  of  which  was  manned. 
Lastly,  the  circumference  of  Piraeus  with  Munychia  was  nearly 
seven  miles  and  a  half ;  only  half  of  this,  however,  was  guarded. 

Thiicydides,  I,  143 

"  This,  I  think,  is  a  tolerably  fair  account  of  the  position  of  the 
Peloponnesians  ;  that  of  Athens  is  free  from  the  defects  that  I 
have  criticised  in  them,  and  has  other  advantages  of  its  own, 
which  they  can  show^  nothing  to  equal.  If  they  march  against  our 
country  we  will  sail  against  theirs,  and  it  will  then  be  found  that 
the  desolation  of  the  whole  of  Attica  is  not  the  same  as  that  of 
even  a  fraction  of  Peloponnese  ;  for  they  will  not  be  able  to  sup- 
ply the  deficiency  except  by  a  battle,  while  we  have  plenty  of  land 
both  on  the  islands  and  the  continent.  The  rule  of  the  sea  is  in- 
deed a  great  matter.  Consider  for  a  moment.  Suppose  that  we 
were  islanders  :   can  you  conceive  a  more  impregnable  position .'' 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      281 

Well,  this  in  future  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  our  conception 
of  our  position.  Dismissing  all  thought  of  our  land  and  houses, 
we  must  vigilantly  guard  the  sea  and  the  city.  No  irritation  that 
we  may  feel  for  the  former  must  provoke  us  to  a  battle  with  the 
numerical  superiority  of  the  Peloponnesians,  A  victory  would  only 
be  succeeded  by  another  battle  against  the  same  superiority  :  a 
reverse  involves  the  loss  of  our  allies,  the  source  of  our  strength, 
who  will  not  remain  quiet  a  day  after  we  become  unable  to  march 
against  them.  We  must  cry  not  over  the  loss  of  houses  and  land 
but  of  men's  lives  ;  since  houses  and  land  do  not  gain  men,  but 
men  them.  And  if  I  had  thought  that  I  could  persuade  you,  I 
would  have  bid  you  go  out  and  lay  them  waste  with  your  own 
hands,  and  show  the  Peloponnesians  that  this  at  any  rate  will  not 
make  you  submit." 

Thucydiiics,  HI,  17 

If  at  the  time  that  this  fleet  was  at  sea,  Athens  had  almost  the 
largest  number  of  first-rate  ships  in  commission  that  she  ever  pos- 
sessed at  any  one  moment,  she  had  as  many  or  even  more  when 
the  war  began.  At  that  time  one  hundred  guarded  Attica,  Euboea, 
and  Salamis  ;  a  hundred  more  were  cruising  round  Peloponnese, 
besides  those  employed  at  Potidsea  and  in  other  places  ;  making  a 
grand  total  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  vessels  employed  on  active 
service  in  a  single  summer.  It  was  this,  with  Potidsea,  that  most 
exhausted  her  revenues  —  Potidaea  being  blockaded  by  a  force  of 
heavy  infantry  (each  drawing  two  drachmae  a  day,  one  for  himself 
and  another  for  his  servant),  which  amounted  to  three  thousand 
at  first,  and  was  kept  at  this  number  down  to  the  end  of  the  siege ; 
besides  sixteen  hundred  with  Phormio  who  went  away  before  it 
was  over ;  and  the  ships  being  all  paid  at  the  same  rate.  In  this 
way  her  money  was  wasted  at  first ;  and  this  was  the  largest  num- 
ber of  ships  ever  manned  by  her. 

Thucydides,  H,  16 

Meanwhile  the  Athenians,  aware  that  the  preparations  of  the 
enemy  were  due  to  his  conviction  of  their  weakness,  and  wishing 
to  show  him   that   he  was  mistaken,  and   that  they  were   able. 


282  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

without  moving  the  Lesbian  fleet,  to  repel  with  ease  that  with 
which  they  were  menaced  from  Peloponnese,  manned  a  hundred 
ships  by  embarking  the  citizens  of  Athens,  except  the  knights 
and  Pentecosiomedimni,  and  the  resident  ahens  ;  and  putting  out 
to  the  Isthmus,  displayed  their  power,  and  made  descents  upon 
Peloponnese  wherever  they  pleased. 

The  Spartans  seem,  to  an  extraordinary  degree,  to  have  under- 
valued the  Athenian  navy.  It  is  remarkable  that  they  were  too  dull 
to  realize  how  many  years  the  navy  of  Athens  had  been  developing 
and  that  they  themselves  could  not  hope  to  rival  a  seasoned  fleet 
at  a  moment's  notice.  As  Pericles  stated  in  his  reply,  Athens  had 
the  largest  and  best  class  of  native  coxswains  and  sailors  in  Hellas. 

Thucydides,  I,  121,  143 

The  naval  strength  which  they  possess  shall  be  raised  by  us 
from  our  respective  antecedent  resources,  and  from  the  moneys  at 
Olympia  and  Delphi.  A  loan  from  these  enables  us  to  seduce 
their  foreign  sailors  by  the  offer  of  higher  pay.  For  the  power  of 
Athens  is  more  mercenary  than  national ;  while  ours  will  not  be 
exposed  to  the  same  risk,  as  its  strength  lies  more  in  men  than  in 
money.  A  single  defeat  at  sea  is  in  all  likelihood  their  ruin  :  should 
they  hold  out,  in  that  case  there  will  be  the  more  time  for  us  to 
exercise  ourselves  in  naval  matters  ;  and  as  soon  as  we  have  arrived 
at  an  equality  in  science,  we  need  scarcely  ask  whether  we  shall  be 
their  superiors  in  courage.  For  the  advantages  that  we  have  by 
nature  they  cannot  acquire  by  education  ;  while  their  superiority 
in  science  must  be  removed  by  our  practice.   .  .   . 

Even  if  they  were  to  touch  the  moneys  at  Olympia  or  Delphi, 
and  try  to  seduce  our  foreign  sailors  by  the  temptation  of  higher 
pay,  that  would  only  be  a  serious  danger  if  we  could  not  still  be  a 
match  for  them,  by  embarking  our  own  citizens  and  the  aliens  resi- 
dent among  us.  But  in  fact  by  this  means  we  are  always  a  match 
for  them ;  and,  best  of  all,  we  have  a  larger  and  higher  class  of 
native  coxswains  and  sailors  among  our  own  citizens  than  all  the 
rest  of  Hellas.    And  to  say  nothing  of  the  danger  of  such  a  step. 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      283 

none  of  our  foreign  sailors  would  consent  to  become  an  outlaw 
from  his  country,  and  to  take  service  with  them  and  their  hopes, 
for  the  sake  of  a  few  days'  high  pay. 

6.  FOREIGN  POLICY 

Thucydides  and  Plutarch  agree  in  attributing  to  Pericles  a  veiy 
wise,  sane  policy  regarding  foreign  conquests.  The  city  had  been 
roused  to  wild  enthusiasm  and  mad  schemes,  which  he  blocked 
even  at  the  risk  of  unpopularity. 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  20 

But  in  other  things  he  did  not  comply  with  the  giddy  impulses 
of  the  citizens,  nor  cjuit  his  own  resolutions  to  follow  their  fancies, 
when,  carried  away  with  the  thought  of  their  strength  and  great 
success,  they  were  eager  to  interfere  again  in  Eg}'pt,  and  to  dis- 
turb the  King  of  Persia's  maritime  dominions.  Nay,  there  were 
a  good  many  who  were,  even  then,  possessed  with  that  unblest 
and  inauspicious  passion  for  Sicily,  which  afterward  the  orators 
of  Alcibiades's  party  blew  up  into  a  flame.  There  were  some  also 
who  dreamt  of  Tuscany  and  Carthage,  and  not  without  plausible 
reason  in  their  present  large  dominion  and  prosperous  course  of 
their  affairs. 

But  Pericles  curbed  this  passion  for  foreign  conquest,  and  un- 
sparingly pruned  and  cut  down  their  ever  busy  fancies  for  a  multi- 
tude of  undertakings ;  and  directed  their  power  for  the  most  part 
to  securing  and  consolidating  what  they  had  already  got,  supposing 
it  would  be  quite  enough  for  them  to  do,  if  they  could  keep  the 
Lacedaemonians  in  check ;  to  whom  he  entertained  all  along  a 
sense  of  opposition  ;  which,  as  upon  many  other  occasions,  so  he 
particularly  showed  by  what  he  did  in  the  time  of  the  holy  war. 
The  Lacedaemonians,  having  gone  with  an  army  to  Delphi,  re- 
stored Apollo's  temple,  which  the  Phocians  had  got  into  their 
possession,  to  the  Delphians ;  immediately  after  their  departure, 
Pericles,  with  another  army,  came  and  restored  the  Phocians. 
And  the  Lacedaemonians,  having  engraven  the  record  of  their 
privilege    of    consulting    the    oracle    before    others,    which    the 


284  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Delphians  gave  them,  upon  the  forehead  of  the  brazen  wolf  which 
stands  there,  he,  also,  having  received  from  the  Phocians  the  like 
privilege  for  the  Athenians,  had  it  cut  upon  the  same  wolf  of 
brass  on  his  right  side. 

That  he  did  well  and  wisely  in  thus  restraining  the  exertions 
of  the  Athenians  within  the  compass  of  Greece,  the  events  them- 
selves that  happened  afterward  bore  sufficient  witness. 

Thucydides,  II,  65 

Such  were  the  arguments  by  which  Pericles  tried  to  cure  the 
Athenians  of  their  anger  against  him  and  to  divert  their  thoughts 
from  their  immediate  afflictions.  As  a  community  he  succeeded 
in  convincing  them  ;  they  not  only  gave  up  all  idea  of  sending  to 
Lacedsemon,  but  applied  themselves  with  increased  energy  to  the 
war ;  still  as  private  individuals  they  could  not  help  smarting  under 
their  sufferings,  the  common  people  having  been  deprived  of  the 
little  that  they  ever  possessed,  while  the  higher  orders  had  lost 
fine  properties  with  costly  establishments  and  buildings  in  the 
country,  and,  worst  of  all,  had  war  instead  of  peace.  In  fact,  the 
public  feeling  against  him  did  not  subside  until  he  had  been 
fined.  Not  long  afterwards,  however,  according  to  the  way  of 
the  multitude,  they  again  elected  him  general  and  committed  all 
their  affairs  to  his  hands,  having  now  become  less  sensitive  to 
their  private  and  domestic  afflictions,  and  understanding  that  he 
was  the  best  man  of  all  for  the  public  necessities.  For  as  long  as 
he  was  at  the  head  of  the  state  during  the  peace,  he  pursued  a 
moderate  and  conservative  policy  ;  and  in  his  time  its  greatness 
was  at  its  height.  When  the  war  broke  out,  here  also  he  seems 
to  have  rightly  gauged  the  power  of  his  country.  He  outlived  its 
commencement  two  years  and  six  months,  and  the  correctness  of 
his  previsions  respecting  it  became  better  known  by  his  death. 
He  told  them  to  wait  quietly,  to  pay  attention  to  their  marine,  to 
attempt  no  new  conquests,  and  to  expose  the  city  to  no  hazards 
during  the  war,  and  doing  this,  promised  them  a  favourable  result. 
What  they  did  was  the  very  contrary,  allowing  private  ambitions 
and  private  interests,  in  matters  apparently  quite  foreign  to  the 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      285 

war,  to  lead  them  into  projects  unjust  both  to  themselves  and  to 
their  allies  —  projects  whose  success  would  only  conduce  to  the 
honour  and  advantage  of  private  persons,  and  whose  failure  en- 
tailed certain  disaster  on  the  country  in  the  war.  The  causes  of 
this  are  not  far  to  seek.  Pericles  indeed,  by  his  rank,  ability,  and 
known  integrity,  was  enabled  to  exercise  an  independent  control 
over  the  multitude  —  in  short,  to  lead  them  instead  of  being  led 
by  them  ;  for  as  he  never  sought  power  by  improper  means,  he 
was  never  compelled  to  flatter  them,  but,  on  the  contrary,  enjoyed 
so  high  an  estimation  that  he  could  afford  to  anger  them  by  con- 
tradiction. Whenever  he  saw  them  unseasonably  and  insolently 
elated,  he  would  with  a  word  reduce  them  to  alarm  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  if  they  fell  victims  to  a  panic,  he  could  at  once  restore  them 
to  confidence.  In  short,  what  was  nominally  a  democracy  became 
in  his  hands  government  by  the  first  citizen.  With  his  successors 
it  was  different.  More  on  a  level  with  one  another,  and  each 
grasping  at  supremacy,  they  ended  by  committing  even  the  con- 
duct of  state  affairs  to  the  whims  of  the  multitude.  This,  as  might 
have  been  expected  in  a  great  and  sovereign  state,  produced  a  host 
of  blunders,  and  amongst  them  the  Sicilian  expedition  ;  though 
this  failed  not  so  much  through  a  miscalculation  of  the  power  of 
those  against  whom  it  was  sent,  as  through  a  fault  in  the  senders 
in  not  taking  the  best  measures  afterwards  to  assist  those  who  had 
gone  out,  but  choosing  rather  to  occupy  themselves  with  private 
cabals  for  the  leadership  of  the  commons,  by  which  they  not  only 
paralysed  operations  in  the  field,  but  also  first  introduced  civil  dis- 
cord at  home.  Yet  after  losing  most  of  their  fleet  besides  other 
forces  in  Sicily,  and  with  faction  already  dominant  in  the  city, 
they  could  still  for  three  years  make  head  against  their  original 
adversaries,  joined  not  only  by  the  Sicilians,  but  also  by  their  own 
allies  nearly  all  in  revolt,  and  at  last  by  the  king's  son,  Cyrus, 
who  furnished  the  funds  for  the  Peloponnesian  navy.  Nor  did 
they  finally  succumb  till  they  fell  the  victims  of  their  own  intes- 
tine disorders.  So  superfluously  abundant  were  the  resources  from 
which  the  genius  of  Pericles  foresaw  an  easy  triumph  in  the  war 
over  the  unaided  forces  of  the  Peloponnesians. 


286  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

7.  PERSONAL  RULE  AND  STATESMANSHIP 
Plutarch,  Pericles,  15-16 

At  length,  coming  to  a  final  contest  with  Thucydides  which  of 
the  two  should  ostracise  the  other  out  of  the  country,  and  having 
gone  through  this  peril,  he  threw  his  antagonist  out,  and  broke  up 
the  confederacy  that  had  been  organised  against  him.  So  that  now 
all  schism  and  division  being  at  an  end,  and  the  city  brought  to 
evenness  and  unity,  he  got  all  Athens  and  all  affairs  that  pertained 
to  the  Athenians  into  his  own  hands,  their  tributes,  their  armies, 
and  their  galleys,  the  islands,  the  sea,  and  their  wide-extended 
power,  partly  over  other  Greeks  and  partly  over  barbarians,  and 
all  that  empire,  which  they  possessed,  founded  and  fortified  upon 
subject  nations  and  royal  friendships  and  alliances. 

After  this  he  was  no  longer  the  same  man  he  had  been  before, 
nor  as  tame  and  gentle  and  familiar  as  formerly  with  the  populace, 
so  as  readily  to  yield  to  their  pleasures  and  to  comply  with  the 
desires  of  the  multitude,  as  a  steersman  shifts  with  the  winds. 
Quitting  that  loose,  remiss,  and,  in  some  cases,  licentious  court  of 
the  popular  will,  he  turned  those  soft  and  flowery  modulations  to 
the  austerity  of  aristocratical  and  regal  rule  ;  and  employing  this 
uprightly  and  undeviatingly  for  the  country's  best  interests,  he  was 
able  generally  to  lead  the  people  along,  with  their  own  wills  and 
consents,  by  persuading  and  showing  them  what  was  to  be  done ; 
and  sometimes,  too,  urging  and  pressing  them  forward  extremely 
against  their  will,  he  made  them,  whether  they  would  or  no,  yield 
submission  to  what  was  for  their  advantage.  In  which,  to  say  the 
truth,  he  did  but  like  a  skilful  physician,  who,  in  a  complicated  and 
chronic  disease,  as  he  sees  occasion,  at  one  while  allows  his  patient 
the  moderate  use  of  such  things  as  please  him,  at  another  while 
gives  him  keen  pains  and  drugs  to  work  the  cure.  For  there 
arising  and  growing  up,  as  was  natural,  all  manner  of  distempered 
feelings  among  a  people  which  had  so  vast  a  command  and 
dominion,  he  alone,  as  a  great  master,  knowing  how  to  handle 
and  deal  fitly  with  each  one  of  them,  and,  in  an  especial  manner, 
making  that  use  of  hopes  and  fears,  as  his  two  chief  rudders,  with 
the  one  to  check  the  career  of  their  confidence  at  any  time,  with 
the  other  to   raise   them   up   and  cheer  them  when  under   any 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      287 

discouragement,  plainly  showed  by  this,  that  rhetoric,  or  the  art  of 
speaking,  is,  in  Plato's  language,  the  government  of  the  souls  of 
men,  and  that  her  chief  business  is  to  address  the  affections  and 
passions,  which  are  as  it  were  the  strings  and  keys  to  the  soul,  and 
require  a  skilful  and  careful  touch  to  be  played  on  as  they  should 
be.  The  source  of  this  predominance  was  not  barely  his  power  of 
language,  but,  as  Thucydides  assures  us,  the  reputation  of  his  life, 
and  the  confidence  felt  in  his  character ;  his  manifest  freedom 
from  every  kind  of  corruption,  and  superiority  to  all  considerations 
of  money.  Notwithstanding  he  had  made  the  city  of  Athens,  which 
was  great  of  itself,  as  great  and  rich  as  can  be  imagined,  and  though 
he  were  himself  in  power  and  interest  more  than  equal  to  many 
kings  and  absolute  rulers,  who  some  of  them  also  bequeathed  by 
will  their  power  to  their  children,  he,  for  his  part,  did  not  make  the 
patrimony  his  father  left  him  greater  than  it  was  by  one  drachma. 
Thucydides,  indeed,  gives  a  plain  statement  of  the  greatness  of 
his  power ;  and  the  comic  poets,  in  their  spiteful  manner,  more 
than  hint  at  it,  styling  his  companions  and  friends  the  new  Pisis- 
tratidae,  and  calling  on  him  to  abjure  any  intention  of  usurpation,  as 
one  whose  eminence  was  too  great  to  be  any  longer  proportionable 
to  and  compatible  with  a  democracy  or  popular  government.  And 
Teleclides  says  the  Athenians  had  surrendered  up  to  him  — 

The  tribute  of  the  cities,  and  with  them,  the  cities  too,  to  do  with  them  as 

he  pleases,  and  undo  ; 
To  build  up,  if  he  likes,  stone  walls  around  a  town  ;  and  again,  if  so  he  likes, 

to  pull  them  down  ; 
Their  treaties  and  alliances,  power,  empire,  peace,  and  war,  their  wealth  and 

their  success  forever  more. 

Nor  was  all  this  the  luck  of  some  happy  occasion  ;  nor  was  it 
the  mere  bloom  and  grace  of  a  policy  that  flourished  for  a  season  ; 
but  having  for  forty  years  together  maintained  the  first  place 
among  statesmen  such  as  Ephialtes  and  Leocrates  and  Myronides 
and  Cimon  and  Tolmides  and  Thucydides  were,  after  the  defeat 
and  banishment  of  Thucydides,  for  no  less  than  fifteen  years 
longer,  in  the  exercise  of  one  continuous  unintermitted  command 
in  the  office,  to  which  he  was  annually  re-elected,  of  General,  he 
preserved  his  integrity  unspotted. 


288  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  9 

Since  Thucydides  describes  the  rule  of  Pericles  as  an  aristo- 
cratical  government^  that  went  by  the  name  of  a  democracy,  but 
was,  indeed,  the  supremacy  of  a  single  great  man,  while  many 
others  say,  on  the  contrary,  that  by  him  the  common  people  were 
first  encouraged  and  led  on  to  such  evils  as  appropriations  of 
subject  territory,  allowances  for  attending  theatres,  payments  for 
performing  public  duties,  and  by  these  bad  habits  were,  under  the 
influence  of  his  public  measures,  changed  from  a  sober,  thrifty 
people,  that  maintained  themselves  by  their  own  labours,  to  lovers 
of  expense,  intemperance,  and  licence,  let  us  examine  the  cause 
of  this  change  by  the  actual  matters  of  fact. 

At  the  first,  as  has  been  said,  when  he  set  himself  against 
Cimon's  great  authority,  he  did  caress  the  people.  Finding  himself 
come  short  of  his  competitor  in  wealth  and  money,  by  which  ad- 
vantages the  other  was  enabled  to  take  care  of  the  poor,  inviting 
every  day  some  one  or  other  of  the  citizens  that  was  in  want  to 
supper,  and  bestowing  clothes  on  the  aged  people,  and  breaking 
down  the  hedges  and  enclosures  of  his  grounds,  that  all  that  would 
might  freely  gather  what  fruit  they  pleased,  Pericles,  thus  outdone 
in  popular  arts,  by  the  advice  of  one  Damonides  of  CEa,  as  Aris- 
totle states,  turned  to  the  distribution  of  the  public  moneys ;  and 
in  a  short  time  having  bought  the  people  over,  what  with  moneys 
allowed  for  shows  and  for  service  on  juries,  and  what  with  other 
forms  of  pay  and  largess,  he  made  use  of  them  against  the  council 
of  Areopagus,  of  which  he  himself  was  no  member,  as  having 
never  been  appointed  by  lot  either  chief  archon,  or  lawgiver,  or 
king,  or  captain.  For  from  of  old  these  offices  were  conferred  on 
persons  by  lot,  and  they  who  had  acquitted  themselves  duly  in  the 
discharge  of  them  were  advanced  to  the  court  of  Areopagus.  And 
so  Pericles,  having  secured  his  power  in  interest  with  the  populace, 
directed  the  exertions  of  his  party  against  this  council  with  such 
success,  that  most  of  these  causes  and  matters  which  had  been 
used  to  be  tried  there  were,  by  the  agency  of  Ephialtes,  removed 
from  its  cognisance  ;  Cimon,  also,  was  banished  by  ostracism  as  a 
favourer  of  the  Lacedaemonians  and  a  hater  of  the  people,  though 
in  wealth  and  noble  birth  he  was  among  the  first,  and  had  won 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      289 

several  most  glorious  victories  over  the  barbarians,  and  had  filled 
the  city  with  money  and  spoils  of  war ;  as  is  recorded  in  the 
history  of  his  life.  So  vast  an  authority  had  Pericles  obtained 
among  the  people. 

yEschylus,  in  the  "  Eumenides,"  gives  us  the  best  picture  of  the 
origin  of  the  court  of  the  Areopagus  at  the  time  of  the  trial  of 
Orestes.^ 

^SCHYLUS,  Eumenides,  470-489  (tr.  Campbell) 

Athena.    Too  hard  for  human  judgement  is  this  case, 
Should  mortal  undertake  it.    Yea  for  me 
To  give  decision  in  a  wrathful  suit 
For  homicide,  were  to  exceed  my  right. 
Moreover,  —  thou  art  come  unto  my  town 
Not  unaneled,  —  a  harmless  suppliant. 
And  cleansed  ;  —  yet,  ere  thou  art  called  my  citizen, 
I  would  have  thee  clear  from  every  shadow  of  blame. 
Now  these,  where  they  have  power,  not  easily 
May  be  dismissed,  but  if  they  compass  not 
The  victory  they  crave,  their  venomed  will 
Falls  on  the  land  for  evil  in  time  to  come. 
So  stands  the  business,  troublous  every  way ; 
Alike  disastrous  and  impossible 
For  me,  to  let  them  bide,  to  ban  them  forth. 
Howbeit,  since  the  affair  hath  lighted  here, 
The  court  I  now  appoint  for  trial  of  blood, 
—  Men  reverencing  the  sanction  of  their  oath,  — 
Shall  live  in  ordinance  for  evermore. 
Produce  your  witness,  let  your  proofs  be  called 
In  oath-bound  aid  to  fortify  your  right. 
While  I  cull  forth  from  holy  Athens  here 
My  citizens  of  noblest  note,  to  give 
On  this  great  plea  their  true  arbitrament 
With  righteous  thoughts,  not  swerving  from  their  oath. 

1  Bur\'  fp.  34S)  points  out  that  the  true  greatness  of  the  Areopagus  as  a  court  and  not  as 
a  council  is  indicated  by  /Kschylus. 


290  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

^SCHYLUS,  EiDnenides,  675-710 

Ath.    Athenians,  ye  who  are  trying  this  first  cause 
Of  human  bloodshedding,  hear  my  decree 
The  people  of  yEgeus  shall  for  evermore 
Maintain  this  council,  incorruptible. 
This  mount  of  Ares,  tabernacle  and  seat 
Of  the  Amazons,  who  came  in  armed  might 
Opposing  Theseus,  and,  to  thwart  his  will, 
Built  here  and  fortified  this  virgin  rock 
And  sacrificed  to  Ares,  whence  the  name 
Of  Areiopagus  ;  the  dread  whereof 
And  awful  reverence  inbred  in  the  race 
By  day  and  night  continuing  shall  restrain 
This  folk  from  wrong-doing,  whilst  the  citizens 
Avoid  rash  innovation.    Crystal  streams 
Tainted  with  clay  yield  no  refreshing  draught. 
I  counsel  this  my  people  to  revere, 
And  guard  from  change,  the  form  of  state  removed 
Alike  from  anarchy  and  tyranny, 
Not  casting  forth  all  terror  from  the  realm, 
Since  who  of  mortals,  fearing  nought,  is  just  ? 
Standing  in  awe,  then,  of  this  worshipped  seat, 
With  hearts  of  righteousness,  ye  shall  preserve    . 
A  fortress  of  protection  for  your  land 
Mightier  than  any  held  by  human  kind 
From  Scythia  to  the  isle  of  Pelops  old. 
This  Court-house  inaccessible  to  wealth 
I  here  inaugurate,  swift  for  redress, 
Yet  capable  of  mercy,  watching  o'er 
Poor  souls  that  slumber,  warden  of  the  soil. 
I  have  thus  prolonged  my  charge  for  the  behoof 
Of  mine  own  citizens  in  times  to  be. 
Now  stand  you  forth,  lift  each  his  voting-ball, 
And  in  decision  of  this  pending  suit. 
Respect  your  oaths.    There  is  no  more  to  say. 

The  fifth  century  was  full  of  momentous  changes,  as  the  following 
selection  from  Aristotle  shows. 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      291 

The  abolition  of  the  last  aristocratic  stronghold,  the  Areopagus, 
the  payment  of  jurists'  fees,  and  the  absolute  democracy  of  the 
state  are  here  indicated.  Aristotle  suggests  some  bad  features  of 
the  system  ;  the  noblest  expression  of  democratic  ideals  and  what 
he  hoped  them  to  achieve  is  that  given  by  Pericles. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXV 

The  people  therefore  got  its  means  of  support  in  this  way.  And 
for  about  seventeen  years  after  the  Persian  war  the  constitution  was 
maintained  under  the  presidency  of  the  Areopagita^,  although  it 
was  gradually  losing  ground.  But  as  the  masses  were  increasing 
in  power,  Ephialtes,  the  son  of  Sophonides,  with  the  reputation  of 
being  incorruptible  and  of  entertaining  just  intentions  towards  the 
constitution,  became  leader  of  the  people,  and  made  an  attack  on 
the  council.  Plrst  he  made  away  with  many  of  the  Areopagitae, 
bringing  actions  against  them  for  their  administration.  Afterwards, 
in  the  archonship  of  Konon,  he  stripped  the  council  of  all  the 
privileges,  in  right  of  which  it  was  the  guardian  of  the  constitution, 
and  made  them  over  partly  to  the  five  hundred  and  partly  to  the 
courts  of  justice. 

Aristotle,  Constitiitiofi  of  Athens,  XXVI-XXVH 

After  this,  in  the  course  of  circumstances,  the  constitution  became 
further  weakened  through  the  zeal  of  the  leaders  of  the  people,  for 
in  these  times,  as  it  fell  out,  the  more  moderate  party  was  without 
a  leader.  Now  Kimon,  the  son  of  Miltiades,  was  at  their  head,  a 
man  comparatively  young,  and  who  had  entered  upon  public  life 
late.  Moreover,  the  greater  portion  of  this  party  had  been  destroyed 
in  war,  which  happened  in  this  way :  The  army  was  enrolled  in 
those  times  from  those  who  were  on  the  list  for  service,  and  generals 
were  appointed  to  command  who  had  no  experience  of  war,  but 
were  held  in  honour  for  their  ancestral  glories,  the  consequence 
of  which  was,  that  those  who  went  to  the  wars  perished  by  two  or 
three  thousand  at  a  time.  In  this  way  the  moderate  men,  both 
of  the  people  and  of  the  well-to-do,  were  used  up.  Now,  in  every- 
thing else  the  government  was  administered  differently  to  what  it 
was  before,  when  men  gave  heed  to  the  laws,  but  the  election  of  the 


292  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

nine  archons  was  not  disturbed.  Still,  in  the  sixth  year  after  the 
death  of  Ephialtes,  they  decreed  that  those  who  were  to  be  balloted 
for  in  the  elections  of  the  nine  archons  should  be  selected  also  from 
the  Zeugitae,  and  the  first  of  that  class  who  filled  the  office  was 
Mnesitheides.  But  all  before  him  had  belonged  to  the  Knights  and 
Pentakosiomedimni,  while  the  Zeugitae  used  to  hold  the  offices  that 
went  round  in  succession  (but  not  the  archonship),  unless  some 
oversight  of  the  provisions  of  the  laws  chanced  to  occur.  In  the 
fifth  year  after  this,  in  the  archonship  of  Lysikrates,  the  thirty  jurors 
were  again  established,  who  were  called  after  the  demes.  In  the 
third  year  after  him,  in  the  archonship  of  Antidotus,  owing  to 
the  great  increase  in  the  number  of  citizens,  they  decreed,  on  the 
proposal  of  Perikles,  that  no  one  should  share  in  political  rights 
unless  both  his  parents  were  citizens. 

After  this  Perikles  came  to  lead  the  people.  He  first  made  a 
name  for  himself  when,  as  a  young  man,  he  called  in  question  the 
accounts  of  Kimon  during  his  command.  The  constitution  then 
became,  in  the  course  of  events,  still  more  democratical ;  for  he 
stripped  the  Areopagitae  of  some  of  their  privileges,  and,  what  was 
the  cardinal  point  of  his  policy,  urged  on  the  state  to  acquire  naval 
power,  in  consequence  of  which  the  masses  grew  bold,  and  drew 
the  whole  government  more  into  their  own  hands.  And  in  the 
forty-ninth  year  after  the  sea-fight  at  Salamis,  in  the  archonship 
of  Pythodorus,  the  Peloponnesian  war  broke  out,  during  which  the 
people,  shut  up  as  they  were  in  the  city  and  accustomed  to  serve 
for  pay  in  the  armies,  partly  of  their  own  free  will,  and  partly  against 
their  wishes,  elected  to  administer  the  government  themselves.  And 
Perikles  was  the  first  to  introduce  pay  for  the  services  of  the  jurors, 
thus  bidding  for  popularity  as  against  the  influence  that  Kimon 
derived  from  his  ample  means.  For  Kimon,  as  the  possessor  of 
royal  wealth,  first  discharged  the  public  services  with  great  splendour, 
and  afterwards  supported  many  of  the  members  of  his  deme.  Any 
of  the  Lakiadae  who  liked  might  go  to  him  every  day  to  get  their 
rations  ;  moreover,  all  his  grounds  were  left  unfenced,  so  that  any- 
one who  liked  could  help  himself  to  the  fruit.  But  as  Perikles  did 
not  possess  the  means  of  indulging  in  public  expenditure  of  this 
kind,  on  the  advice  of  Damonides  of  CEa  (who  had  the  reputation 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      293 

of  being  the  prompter  of  Perikles'  wars,  for  which  reason  also  they 
ostracised  him  later),  since  his  private  property  did  not  allow  him 
to  provide  subsistence  for  the  populace,  he  instituted  pay  for  the 
jurors.  And  to  these  causes  some  assign  the  deterioration  in  the 
conduct  of  affairs,  as  the  appointments  to  office  were  designedly 
made  more  and  more  by  haphazard  instead  of  by  merit.  And 
bribery  in  the  law  courts  also  began  to  be  practised  after  this, 
Anytus  being  the  first  to  show  how  to  do  it  after  his  command  at 
Pylos  ;  for  when  he  was  put  upon  his  trial  for  losing  it,  he  bribed 
the  court  and  was  accjuitted. 

The  reputation  of  Pericles  as  an  orator  was  very  high  among 
the  ancients.  We  can  judge  of  it  for  ourselves  in  the  famous 
Funeral  Oration  put  into  his  mouth  by  Thucydides. 

Thucydides,  I,  139 

Among  them  came  forward  Pericles,  son  of  Xanthippus,  the 
first  man  of  his  time  at  Athens,  ablest  alike  in  counsel  and  in  action. 

Plutarch,  Pericles,  8 

The  st3'le  of  speaking  most  consonant  to  his  form  of  life  and 
the  dignity  of  his  views  he  found,  so  to  say,  in  the  tones  of  that 
instrument  with  which  Anaxagoras  had  furnished  him ;  of  his 
teaching  he  continually  availed  himself,  and  deepened  the  colours 
of  rhetoric  with  the  dye  of  natural  science.  For  having,  in  addition 
to  his  great  natural  genius,  attained,  by  the  study  of  nature,  to  use 
the  words  of  the  divine  Plato,  this  height  of  intelligence,  and  this 
universal  consummating  power,  and  drawing  hence  whatever  might 
be  of  advantage  to  him  in  the  art  of  speaking,  he  showed  himself 
far  superior  to  all  others.  Upon  which  account,  they  say,  he  had 
his  nickname  given  him,  though  some  are  of  opinion  he  was  named 
the  Olympian  from  the  public  buildings  with  which  he  adorned 
the  city  ;  and  others  again,  from  his  great  power  in  public  affairs, 
whether  of  war  or  peace.  Nor  is  it  unlikely  that  the  confluence  of 
many  attributes  may  have  conferred  it  on  him.  However,  the 
comedies  represented  at  the  time,  which,  both  in  good  earnest  and 
in  merriment,  let  fly  many  hard  words  at  him,  plainly  show  that  he 
got  that  appellation  especially  from  his  speaking ;  they  speak  of 


294  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

his  "thundering  and  Hghtning  "  when  he  harangued  the  people, 
and  of  his  wielding  a  dreadful  thunderbolt  in  his  tongue. 

A  saying  also  of  Thucydides,  the  son  of  Melesias,  stands  on 
record,  spoken  by  him  by  way  of  pleasantry  upon  Pericles's  dex- 
terity. Thucydides  was  one  of  the  noble  and  distinguished  citizens, 
and  had  been  his  greatest  opponent ;  and,  when  Archidamus,  the 
King  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  asked  him  whether  he  or  Pericles 
were  the  better  wrestler,  he  made  this  answer :  "  When  I,"  said 
he,  "  have  thrown  him  and  given  him  a  fair  fall,  by  persisting  that 
he  had  no  fall,  he  gets  the  better  of  me,  and  makes  the  bystanders, 
in  spite  of  their  own  eyes,  believe  him."  The  truth,  however,  is, 
that  Pericles  himself  was  very  careful  what  and  how  he  was  to 
speak,  insomuch  that,  whenever  he  went  up  to  the  hustings,  he 
prayed  the  gods  that  no  one  word  might  unawares  slip  from  him 
unsuitable  to  the  matter  and  the  occasion. 

He  has  left  nothing  in  writing  behind  him,  except  some  decrees  ; 
and  there  are  but  very  few  of  his  sayings  recorded ;  one,  for  ex- 
ample, is,  that  he  said  Aigma.  must,  like  a  gathering  in  a  man's 
eye,  be  removed  from  Piraeus  ;  and  another,  that  he  said  he  saw 
already  war  moving  on  its  way  towards  them  out  of  Peloponnesus. 

EuPOLis,  T/ie  Denies  (Bothe,  "Frag.  Com."  Vol.  I,  p.  162,  in  Jebb, 
"Attic  Orators,"  Vol.  I,  p.  cxxvi) 
"  This  man,"  says  Eupolis,  "  whenever  he  came  forward,  proved 
himself  the  greatest  orator  among  men  :  like  a  good  runner,  he 
could  give  the  other  speakers  ten  feet  start,  and  win.  .  .  .  Rapid 
you  call  him  ;  but,  besides  his  swiftness,  a  certain  persuasion  sat 
upon  his  lips  —  such  was  his  spell :  and,  alone  of  the  speakers, 
he  ever  left  his  sting  in  the  hearers." 

8.  THE  IDEAL  OF  PERICLES   FOR  ATHENS 

The  Fuxeral  Oration 
Thucydides,  II,  34-46 

In  the  same  winter  the  Athenians  gave  a  funeral  at  the  public 
cost  to  those  who  had  first  fallen  in  this  war.  It  was  a  custom  of 
their  ancestors,  and  the  manner  of  it  is  as  follows.  Three  days 
before  the  ceremony,  the  bones  of  the  dead  are  laid  out  in  a  tent 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      295 

which  has  been  erected  ;  and  their  friends  bring  to  their  relatives 
such  offerings  as  they  please.  In  the  funeral  procession  cypress 
cofhns  are  borne  in  cars,  one  for  each  tribe  ;  the  bones  of  the 
deceased  being  placed  in  the  coffin  of  their  tribe.  Among  these  is 
carried  one  empty  bier  decked  for  the  missing,  that  is,  for  those 
whose  bodies  could  not  be  recovered.  Any  citizen  or  stranger  who 
pleases,  joins  in  the  procession  :  and  the  female  relatives  are  there 
to  wail  at  the  burial.  The  dead  are  laid  in  the  public  sepulchre  in 
the  Beautiful  suburb  of  the  city,  in  which  those  who  fall  in  war  are 
always  buried  ;  with  the  exception  of  those  slain  at  Marathon,  who 
for  their  singular  and  extraordinary  valour  were  interred  on  the 
spot  where  they  fell.  After  the  bodies  have  been  laid  in  the  earth, 
'a  man  chosen  by  the  state,  of  approved  wisdom  and  eminent  repu- 
tation, pronounces  over  them  an  appropriate  panegyric  ;  after  which 
all  retire.  Such  is  the  manner  of  the  burying ;  and  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  war,  whenever  the  occasion  arose,  the  established 
custom  was  observed.  Meanwhile  these  were  the  first  that  had 
fallen,  and  Pericles,  son  of  Xanthippus,  was  chosen  to  pronounce 
their  eulogium.  When  the  proper  time  arrived,  he  advanced  from 
the  sepulchre  to  an  elevated  platform  in  order  to  be  heard  by  as 
many  of  the  crowd  as  possible,  and  spoke  as  follows  : 

"  Most  of  my  predecessors  in  this  place  have  commended  him 
who  made  this  speech  part  of  the  law,  telling  us  that  it  is  well  that 
it  should  be  delivered  at  the  burial  of  those  who  fall  in  battle.  P'or 
myself,  I  should  have  thought  that  the  worth  which  had  displayed 
itself  in  deeds,  would  be  sufficiently  rewarded  by  honours  also 
shown  by  deeds ;  such  as  you  now  see  in  this  funeral  prepared  at 
the  people's  cost.  And  I  could  have  wished  that  the  reputations 
of  many  brave  men  were  not  to  be  imperilled  in  the  mouth  of  a 
single  individual,  to  stand  or  fall  according  as  he  spoke  well  or  ill. 
For  it  is  hard  to  speak  properly  upon  a  subject  where  it  is  even 
difficult  to  convince  your  hearers  that  you  are  speaking  the  truth. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  friend  who  is  familiar  with  every  fact  of  the 
story,  may  think  that  some  point  has  not  been  set  forth  with  that 
fulness  which  he  wishes  and  knows  it  to  deserve  ;  on  the  other, 
he  who  is  a  stranger  to  the  matter  may  be  led  by  envy  to  suspect 
exaggeration  if  he  hears  anything  above  his  own  nature.    For  men 


296  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

can  endure  to  hear  others  praised  only  so  long  as  they  can  sever- 
ally persuade  themselves  of  their  own  ability  to  equal  the  actions 
recounted  :  when  this  point  is  passed,  envy  comes  in  and  with 
it  incredulity.  However,  since  our  ancestors  have  stamped  this 
custom  with  their  approval,  it  becomes  my  duty  to  obey  the 
law  and  to  try  to  satisfy  your  several  wishes  and  opinions  as  best 
I  may. 

"  I  shall  begin  with  our  ancestors  :  it  is  both  just  and  proper 
that  they  should  have  the  honour  of  the  first  mention  on  an  occa- 
sion like  the  present.  They  dwelt  in  the  country  without  break  in 
the  succession  from  generation  to  generation,  and  handed  it  down 
free  to  the  present  time  by  their  valour.  And  if  our  more  remote 
ancestors  deserve  praise,  much  more  do  our  own  fathers,  who  added 
to  their  inheritance  the  empire  which  we  now  possess,  and  spared 
no  pains  to  be  able  to  leave  their  acquisitions  to  us  of  the  present 
generation.  Lastly,  there  are  few  parts  of  our  dominions  that  have 
not  been  augmented  by  those  of  us  here,  who  are  still  more  or  less 
in  the  vigour  of  life  ;  while  the  mother  country  has  been  furnished 
by  us  with  everything  that  can  enable  her  to  depend  on  her  own 
resources  whether  for  war  or  for  peace.  That  part  of  our  history 
which  tells  of  the  military  achievements  which  gave  us  our  several 
possessions,  or  of  the  ready  valour  with  which  either  we  or  our 
fathers  stemmed  the  tide  of  Hellenic  or  foreign  aggression,  is  a 
theme  too  familiar  to  my  hearers  for  me  to  dilate  on,  and  I  shall 
therefore  pass  it  by.  But  what  was  the  road  by  which  we  reached 
our  position,  what  the  form  of  government  under  which  our  great- 
ness grew,  what  the  national  habits  out  of  which  it  sprang ;  these 
are  questions  which  I  may  try  to  solve  before  I  proceed  to  my 
panegyric  upon  these  men  ;  since  I  think  this  to  be  a  subject  upon 
which  on  the  present  occasion  a  speaker  may  properly  dwell,  and 
to  which  the  whole  assemblage,  whether  citizens  or  foreigners, 
may  listen  with  advantage. 

"  Our  constitution  does  not  copy  the  laws  of  neighbouring  states  ; 
we  are  rather  a  pattern  to  others  than  imitators  ourselves.  Its 
administration  favours  the  many  instead  of  the  few  ;  this  is  why  it 
is  called  a  democracy.  If  we  look  to  the  laws,  they  afford  equal 
justice  to  all  in  their  private  differences  ;    if  to  social  standing, 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      297 

advancement  in  public  life  falls  to  reputation  for  capacity,  class 
considerations  not  being  allowed  to  interfere  with  merit ;  nor  again 
does  poverty  bar  the  way,  if  a  man  is  able  to  serve  the  state,  he  is 
not  hindered  by  the  obscurity  of  his  condition.  The  freedom  which 
we  enjoy  in  our  government  extends  also  to  our  ordinary  life. 
There,  far  from  exercising  a  jealous  surveillance  over  each  other, 
we  do  not  feel  called  upon  to  be  angry  with  our  neighbour  for 
doing  what  he  likes,  or  even  to  indulge  in  those  injurious  looks 
which  cannot  fail  to  be  offensive,  although  they  inflict  no  positive 
penalty.  But  all  this  ease  in  our  private  relations  does  not  make  us 
lawless  as  citizens.  Against  this  fear  is  our  chief  safeguard,  teach- 
ing us  to  obey  the  magistrates  and  the  laws,  particularly  such  as 
regard  the  protection  of  the  injured,  whether  they  are  actually  on 
the  statute  book,  or  belong  to  that  code  which,  although  unwritten, 
yet  cannot  be  broken  without  acknowledged  disgrace. 

"  Further,  we  provide  plenty  of  means  for  the  mind  to  refresh 
itself  from  business.  We  celebrate  games  and  sacrifices  all  the 
year  round,  and  the  elegance  of  our  private  establishments  forms 
a  daily  source  of  pleasure  and  helps  to  banish  the  spleen  ;  while 
the  magnitude  of  our  city  draws  the  produce  of  the  world  into 
our  harbour,  so  that  to  the  Athenian  the  fruits  of  other  countries 
are  as  familiar  a  luxury  as  those  of  his  own. 

"  If  we  turn  to  our  military  policy,  there  also  we  differ  from  our 
antagonists.  We  throw  open  our  city  to  the  world,  and  never  by 
alien  acts  exclude  foreigners  from  any  opportunity  of  learning  or 
observing,  although  the  eyes  of  an  enemy  may  occasionally  profit 
by  our  liberality ;  trusting  less  in  system  and  policy  than  to  the 
native  spirit  of  our  citizens ;  while  in  education,  where  our  rivals 
from  their  very  cradles  by  a  painful  discipline  seek  after  manliness, 
at  Athens  we  live  exactly  as  we  please,  and  yet  are  just  as  ready 
to  encounter  every  legitimate  danger.  In  proof  of  this  it  may  be 
noticed  that  the  Lacedaemonians  do  not  invade  our  country  alone, 
but  bring  with  them  all  their  confederates ;  while  we  Athenians 
advance  unsupported  into  the  territory  of  a  neighbour,  and  fighting 
upon  a  foreign  soil  usually  vanquish  with  ease  men  who  are  defend- 
ing their  homes.  Our  united  force  was  never  yet  encountered  by 
any  enemy,  because  we  have  at  once  to  attend  to  our  marine  and 


298  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

to  despatch  our  citizens  by  land  upon  a  hundred  different  services  ; 
so  that,  wherever  they  engage  with  some  such  fraction  of  our 
strength,  a  success  against  a  detachment  is  magnified  into  a  vic- 
tory over  the  nation,  and  a  defeat  into  a  reverse  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  our  entire  people.  And  yet  if  with  habits  not  of  labour 
but  of  ease,  and  courage  not  of  art  but  of  nature,  we  are  still 
willing  to  encounter  danger,  we  have  the  double  advantage  of 
escaping  the  experience  of  hardships  in  anticipation  and  of  fac- 
ing them  in  the  hour  of  need  as  fearlessly  as  those  who  are  never 
free  from  them. 

"  Nor  are  these  the  only  points  in  which  our  city  is  worthy  of 
admiration.  We  cultivate  refinement  without  extravagance  and 
knowledge  without  effeminacy  ;  wealth  we  employ  more  for  use 
than  for  show,  and  place  the  real  disgrace  of  poverty  not  in  own- 
ing to  the  fact  but  in  declining  the  struggle  against  it.  Our  public 
men  have,  besides  politics,  their  private  affairs  to  attend  to,  and 
our  ordinary  citizens,  though  occupied  with  the  pursuits  of  industry, 
are  still  fair  judges  of  public  matters  ;  for,  unlike  any  other  nation, 
regarding  him  who  takes  no  part  in  these  duties  not  as  unambitious 
but  as  useless,  we  Athenians  are  able  to  judge  at  all  events  if  we 
cannot  originate,  and  instead  of  looking  on  discussion  as  a  stumbling- 
block  in  the  way  of  action,  we  think  it  an  indispensable  preliminary 
to  any  wise  action  at  all.  Again,  in  our  enterprises  we  present  the 
singular  spectacle  of  daring  and  deliberation,  each  carried  to  its 
highest  point,  and  both  united  in  the  same  persons ;  although 
usually  decision  is  the  fruit  of  ignorance,  hesitation  of  reflexion. 
But  the  palm  of  courage  will  surely  be  adjudged  most  justly  to 
those,  who  best  know  the  difference  between  hardship  and  pleas- 
ure and  yet  are  never  tempted  to  shrink  from  danger.  In  gener- 
osity we  are  equally  singular,  acquiring  our  friends  by  conferring 
not  by  receiving  favours.  Yet,  of  course,  the  doer  of  the  favour  is 
the  firmer  friend  of  the  two,  in  order  by  continued  kindness  to 
keep  the  recipient  in  his  debt ;  while  the  debtor  feels  less  keenly 
from  the  very  consciousness  that  the  return  he  makes  will  be  a 
payment,  not  a  free  gift.  And  it  is  only  the  Athenians  who,  fear- 
less of  consequences,  confer  their  benefits  not  from  calculations  of 
expediency,  but  in  the  confidence  of  liberality. 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      299 

"In  short,  I  say  that  as  a  city  we  are  the  school  of  Hellas  ; 
while  I  doubt  if  the  world  can  produce  a  man,  who  where  he  has 
only  himself  to  cfepend  upon,  is  equal  to  so  many  emergencies, 
and  graced  by  so  happy  a  versatility  as  the  Athenian.  And  that 
this  is  no  mere  boast  thrown  out  for  the  occasion,  but  plain  matter 
of  fact,  the  power  of  the  state  acquired  by  these  habits  proves. 
P'or  Athens  alone  of  her  contemporaries  is  found  when  tested  to 
be  greater  than  her  reputation,  and  alone  gives  no  occasion  to  her 
assailants  to  blush  at  the  antagonist  by  whom  they  have  been 
worsted,  or  to  her  subjects  to  question  her  title  by  merit  to  rule. 
Rather,  the  admiration  of  the  present  and  succeeding  ages  will  be 
ours,  since  we  have  not  left  our  power  without  witness,  but  have 
shown  it  by  mighty  proofs  ;  and  far  from  needing  a  Homer  for 
our  panegyrist,  or  other  of  his  craft  whose  verses  might  charm  for 
the  moment  only  for  the  impression  which  they  gave  to  melt  at  the 
touch  of  fact,  we  have  forced  every  sea  and  land  to  be  the  highway 
of  our  daring,  and  everywhere,  whether  for  evil  or  for  good,  have 
left  imperishable  monuments  behind  us.  Such  is  the  Athens  for 
which  these  men,  in  the  assertion  of  their  resolve  not  to  lose  her, 
nobly  fought  and  died ;  and  well  may  every  one  of  their  survivors 
be  ready  to  suffer  in  her  cause. 

"  Indeed  if  I  have  dwelt  at  some  length  upon  the  character  of 
our  country,  it  has  been  to  show  that  our  stake  in  the  struggle  is 
not  the  same  as  theirs  who  have  no  such  blessings  to  lose,  and  also 
that  the  panegyric  of  the  men  over  whom  I  am  now  speaking  might 
be  by  definite  proofs  established.  That  panegyric  is  now  in  a  great 
measure  complete ;  for  the  Athens  that  I  have  celebrated  is  only 
what  the  heroism  of  these  and  their  like  have  made  her,  men  whose 
fame,  unlike  that  of  most  Hellenes,  will  be  found  to  be  only  com- 
mensurate with  their  deserts.  And  if  a  test  of  worth  be  wanted,  it 
is  to  be  found  in  their  closing  scene,  and  this  not  only  in  the  cases 
in  which  it  set  the  final  seal  upon  their  merit,  but  also  in  those  in 
which  it  gave  the  first  intimation  of  their  having  any.  For  there 
is  justice  in  the  claim  that  stedfastncss  in  his  country's  battles 
should  be  as  a  cloak  to  cover  a  man's  other  imperfections  ;  since 
the  good  action  has  blotted  out  the  bad,  and  his  merit  as  a  citizen 
more  than  outweighed  his  demerits  as  an  individual.    But  none  of 


300  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

these  allowed  either  wealth  with  its  prospect  of  future  enjoyment 
to  unnerve  his  spirit,  or  poverty  with  its  hope  of  a  day  of  freedom 
and  riches  to  tempt  him  to  shrink  from  danger.'  No,  holding  that 
vengeance  upon  their  enemies  was  more  to  be  desired  than  any 
personal  blessings,  and  reckoning  this  to  be  the  most  glorious  of 
hazards,  they  joyfully  determined  to  accept  the  risk,  to  make  sure 
of  their  vengeance  and  to  let  their  wishes  wait ;  and  while  com- 
mitting to  hope  the  uncertainty  of  final  success,  in  the  business 
before  them  they  thought  fit  to  act  boldly  and  trust  in  themselves. 
Thus  choosing  to  die  resisting,  rather  than  to  live  submitting,  they 
fled  only  from  dishonour,  but  met  danger  face  to  face,  and  after 
one  brief  moment,  while  at  the  summit  of  their  fortune,  escaped, 
not  from  their  fear,  but  from  their  glory. 

"  So  died  these  men  as  became  Athenians.  You,  their  survivors, 
must  determine  to  have  as  unfaltering  a  resolution  in  the  field, 
though  you  may  pray  that  it  may  have  a  happier  issue.  And  not 
contented  with  ideas  derived  only  from  words  of  the  advantages 
which  are  bound  up  with  the  defence  of  your  country,  though  these 
would  furnish  a  valuable  text  to  a  speaker  even  before  an  audience 
so  alive  to  them  as  the  present,  you  must  yourselves  realise  the 
power  of  Athens,  and  feed  your  eyes  upon  her  from  day  to  day, 
till  love  of  her  fills  your  hearts  ;  and  then  when  all  her  greatness 
shall  break  upon  you,  you  must  reflect  that  it  was  by  courage,  sense 
of  duty,  and  a  keen  feeling  of  honour  in  action  that  men  were 
enabled  to  win  all  this,  and  that  no  personal  failure  in  an  enterprise 
could  make  them  consent  to  deprive  their  country  of  their  valour, 
but  they  laid  it  at  her  feet  as  the  most  glorious  contribution  that 
they  could  offer.  For  this  offering  of  their  lives  made  in  common 
by  them  all  they  each  of  them  individually  received  that  renown 
which  never  grows  old,  and  for  a  sepulchre,  not  so  much  that  in 
which  their  bones  have  been  deposited,  but  that  noblest  of  shrines 
wherein  their  glory  is  laid  up  to  be  eternally  remembered  upon 
every  occasion  on  which  deed  or  story  shall  call  for  its  commemora- 
tion. For  heroes  have  the  whole  earth  for  their  tomb  ;  and  in  lands 
far  from  their  own,  where  the  column  with  its  epitaph  declares  it, 
there  is  enshrined  in  every  breast  a  record  unwritten  with  no  tab- 
let to  preserve  it,  except  that  of  the  heart.    These  take  as  your 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      301 

model,  and  judging  happiness  to  be  the  fruit  of  freedom  and  free- 
dom of  valour,  never  decline  the  dangers  of  war.  For  it  is  not  the 
miserable  that  would  most  justly  be  unsparing  of  their  lives  ;  these 
have  nothing  to  hope  for  :  it  is  rather  they  to  whom  continued  life 
may  bring  reverses  as  yet  unknown,  and  to  whom  a  fall,  if  it  came, 
would  be  most  tremendous  in  its  consequences.  And  surely,  to  a 
man  of  spirit,  the  degradation  of  cowardice  must  be  immeasurably 
more  grievous  than  the  unfelt  death  which  strikes  him  in  the 
midst  of  his  strength  and  patriotism  ! 

"  Comfort,  therefore,  not  condolence,  is  what  I  have  to  offer  to 
the  parents  of  the  dead  who  may  be  here.  Numberless  are  the 
chances  to  which,  as  they  know,  the  life  of  man  is  subject ;  but 
fortunate  indeed  are  they  who  draw  for  their  lot  a  death  so  glori- 
ous as  that  which  has  caused  your  mourning,  and  to  whom  life  has 
been  so  exactly  measured  as  to  terminate  in  the  happiness  in  which 
it  has  been  passed.  Still  I  know  that  this  is  a  hard  saying,  espe- 
cially when  those  are  in  question  of  whom  you  will  constantly  be 
reminded  by  seeing  in  the  homes  of  others  blessings  of  which 
once  you  also  boasted  :  for  grief  is  felt  not  so  much  for  the  want 
of  what  we  have  never  known,  as  for  the  loss  of  that  to  which  we 
have  been  long  accustomed.  Yet  you  who  are  still  of  an  age  to 
beget  children  must  bear  up  in  the  hope  of  having  others  in  their 
stead  ;  not  only  will  they  help  you  to  forget  those  whom  you  have 
lost,  but  will  be  to  the  state  at  once  a  reinforcement  and  a  security  ; 
for  never  can  a  fair  or  just  policy  be  expected  of  the  citizen  who 
does  not,  like  his  fellows,  bring  to  the  decision  the  interests  and 
apprehensions  of  a  father.  Wliile  those  of  you  who  have  passed 
your  prime  must  congratulate  yourselves  with  the  thought  that  the 
best  part  of  your  life  was  fortunate,  and  that  the  brief  span  that 
remains  will  be  cheered  by  the  fame  of  the  departed.  For  it  is 
only  the  love  of  honour  that  never  grows  old  ;  and  honour  it  is, 
not  gain,  as  some  would  have  it,  that  rejoices  the  heart  of  age 
and  helplessness. 

"  Turning  to  the  sons  or  brothers  of  the  dead,  I  see  an  arduous 
struggle  before  you.  When  a  man  is  gone,  all  are  wont  to  praise 
him,  and  should  your  merit  be  ever  so  transcendent,  you  will  still 
find  it  difficult  not  merely  to  overtake,  but  even  to  approach  their 


302  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

renown.  The  living  have  envy  to  contend  with,  while  those  who 
are  no  longer  in  our  path  are  honoured  with  a  goodwill  into  which 
rivalry  does  not  enter.  On  the  other  hand,  if  I  must  say  anything 
on  the  subject  of  female  excellence  to  those  of  you  who  will  now 
be  in  widowhood,  it  will  be  all  comprised  in  this  brief  exhortation. 
Great  will  be  your  glory  in  not  falling  short  of  your  natural  char- 
acter ;  and  greatest  will  be  hers  who  is  least  talked  of  among  the 
men  whether  for  good  or  for  bad. 

"  My  task  is  now  finished.  I  have  performed  it  to  the  best  of 
my  ability,  and  in  word,  at  least,  the  requirements  of  the  law  are 
now  satisfied.  If  deeds  be  in  question,  those  who  are  here  interred 
have  received  part  of  their  honours  already,  and  for  the  rest,  their 
children  will  be  brought  up  till  manhood  at  the  public  expense : 
the  state  thus  offers  a  valuable  prize,  as  the  garland  of  victory  in 
this  race  of  valour,  for  the  reward  both  of  those  who  have  fallen 
and  their  survivors.  And  where  the  rewards  for  merit  are  greatest, 
there  are  found  the  best  citizens. 

"  And  now  that  you  have  brought  to  a  close  your  lamentations 
for  your  relatives,  you  may  depart." 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Contemporary  Sources :  These  are  collected  in  G.  F.  Hill,  Sources  for  Greek 
History,  478-431  li.c. ;  Inscriptions;  Simonides,  Epigrams ;  yEschylus,  Agamem- 
non, Eumenides ;  Thucydides. 

Derivative  Sources:  Xenophon  (pseudo).  The  Polity  of  the  Athenians;  Aris- 
totle, Constitution  of  Athens ;  Aristophanes  (see  detail  under  next  chapter) ; 
Diodorus,  Bk.  XII,  chap,  xii ;  Plutarch,  Aristides,  Themistocles,  Cimon,  Pericles. 

Modern  Authorities :  To  k.c.  461,  —  Botsf ord,  History,  chap,  viii ;  Bury,  History, 
chap,  viii ;  Beloch,  Griechische  Geschichte,  Band  I,  Abschnitt  xii  (Growth  after 
Persian  Wars);  Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  Band  III,  Teil  I,  Kap.  vi, 
§§  23-25;  Holm,  History,  Vol.  II,  chaps,  vii-ix;  Oman,  History,  chaps,  xxii-xxiii ; 
Abbott,  History,  Vol.  II,  chaps,  vi-viii;  Curtius,  History,  Vol.  II,  Bk.  Ill,  chap,  ii; 
Grote,  History,  Vol.  V,  chaps,  xliv-xlv;  Cox,  Greek  Statesmen,  Vol.  I,  Aristeides, 
Themistokles,  Pausanias ;  Cox,  Athenian  Empire,  chap,  i;  Botsford,  Athenian 
Constitution,  chap,  xii;  Perrin,  Plutarch's  Themistocles  and  Aristides;  Perrin, 
Plutarch's  Cimon  and  Pericles. 

The  Age  of  Pericles,  —  Botsford,  history,  chap,  ix ;  Bury,  chap,  ix ;  Beloch,  Band  I, 
Abschnitt  xiii-xiv ;  Busolt,  Band  III,  Teil  I,  Kap. vi,  §§  26-29  ;  Holm,  Vol.  II,  chaps. 
xiii-xx  ;  Oman,  chaps,  xxiii-xxv  ;  Abbott,  Vol.  II,  chaps,  ix-xi ;  Curtius,  Vol.  II, 


THE  PERSIAN  TO  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR 


j^o 


Bk.  Ill,  chap,  iii ;  Grote,  Vol.  V,  chaps,  xlv-xlvi ;  Allcroft,  The  Making  of  Athens, 
chaps,  ix-xiii ;  Cox,  Greek  Statesmen,  Vol.  II,  Ephialtes,  Kimon,  Perikles ;  Cox, 
Athenian  Empire,  chap,  ii ;  Botsford,  Athenian  Constitution,  chap,  xii ;  Abbott, 
Pericles  and  the  Golden  Age  of  Athens ;  Grant,  Greece  in  the  Age  of  Pericles ; 
Lloyd,  The  Age  of  Pericles. 

Further  Works:  Gilbert,  Constitutional  Antiquities,  pp.  416  ff.;  Greenidge, 
Greek  Const.  Hist.,  chap,  vi ;  Fowler,  The  City-State,  chap,  vi ;  Cunningham, 
Western  Civilization  in  its  Economic  Aspects,  Bk.  II,  chap,  ii ;  Mahaffy,  Survey 
of  Greek  Civilization,  chap,  v;  Mahaffy,  Social  Life,  chaps,  vi-viii;  Murray, 
Ancient  Greek  Literature,  chaps,  vi,  viii,  xi ;  Jebb,  Greek  Literature,  Part  II ; 
Zimmern,  The  Greek  Commonwealth ;  Ileadlam,  Election  by  Lot  in  Athens. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR 

Preliminary — The  Corinthian-Corcyraean  incident  —  Potidaea — Sides  taken  — 
The  Athenian  population;  conditions  in  Attica  —  The  Ten  Years' War — vSpartan 
invasion  of  Attica  and  its  results  —  The  death  and  successors  of  Pericles  — 
Cleon  —  Nicias  —  The  revolt  of  Mitylene  —  Pylos  —  Amphipolis  —  The  Peace  of 
Nicias — Period  of  so-called  truce  —  Alliance  with  Argos  —  The  Melian  affair 

I.    Preliminary 

1.  THE  CORINTHIAN-CORCYR^AN  INCIDENT 

The  inevitable  struggle  between  Athens  and  Sparta  was  drawing 
nearer,  although  a  temporary  peace  had  been  patched  up  between 
them.  The  war  really  grew  out  of  a  petty  quarrel  between  Corinth 
and  Corcyra,  and  after  some  preliminary  battles,  both  sides  sent 
embassies  to  Athens  to  try  to  win  over  her  powerful  fleet  as  an  ally. 

The  Corcyraeans  made  out  a  very  good  case,  in  showing  the 
great  advantage  to  Athens  of  an  ally  situated  as  she  was  on  the 
route  to  the  west. 

Thucydides,  I,  31,  36 

Corinth,  exasperated  by  the  war  with  the  Corcyraeans,  spent  the 
whole  of  the  year  after  the.  engagement  and  that  succeeding  it  in 
building  ships,  and  in  straining  every  nerve  to  form  an  efficient 
fleet;  rowers  being  drawn  from  Peloponnese  and  the  rest  of  Hellas 
by  the  inducement  of  large  bounties.  The  Corcyraeans,  alarmed  at 
the  news  of  their  preparations,  being  without  a  single  ally  in  Hellas 
(for  they  had  not  enrolled  themselves  either  in  the  Athenian  or  in 
the  Lacedaemonian  confederacy),  decided  to  repair  to  Athens  in 
order  to  enter  into  alliance,  and  to  endeavour  to  procure  support 
from  her,  Corinth  also,  hearing  of  their  intentions,  sent  an  em- 
bassy to  Athens  to  prevent  the  Corcyraean  navy  being  joined  by 

304 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  305 

the  Athenian,  and  her  prospect  of  ordering  the  war  according  to 
her  wishes  being  thus  impeded.  An  assembly  was  convoked,  and 
the  rival  advocates  appeared :  the  Corcyraeans  spoke  as  follows :  .  ,  . 
"  But  your  real  policy  is  to  afford  us  avowed  countenance  and 
support.  The  advantages  of  this  course,  as  we  premised  in  the  be- 
ginning of  our  speech,  are  many.  We  mention  one  that  is  perhaps 
the  chief.  Could  there  be  a  clearer  guarantee  of  our  good  faith 
than  is  offered  by  the  fact  that  the  power  which  is  at  enmity  with 
you  is  also  at  enmity  with  us,  and  that  that  power  is  fully  able  to 
punish  defection.  And  there  is  a  wide  difference  between  declining 
the  alliance  of  an  inland  and  of  a  maritime  power.  For  your  first 
endeavour  should  be  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  existence  of  any 
naval  power  except  your  own  ;  failing  this,  to  secure  the  friendship 
of  the  strongest  that  does  exist.  And  if  any  of  you  believe  that 
what  we  urge  is  expedient,  but  fear  to  act  upon  this  belief,  lest  it 
should  lead  to  a  breach  of  the  treaty,  you  must  remember  that  on 
the  one  hand,  whatever  your  fears,  your  strength  will  be  formidable 
to  your  antagonists  ;  on  the  other,  whatever  the  confidence  you 
derive  from  refusing  to  receive  us,  your  weakness  will  have  no 
terrors  for  a  strong  enemy.  You  must  also  remember  that  your  de- 
cision is  for  Athens  no  less  than  for  Corcyra,  and  that  you  are  not 
making  the  best  provision  for  her  interests,  if  at  a  time  when  you 
are  anxiously  scanning  the  horizon  that  you  may  be  in  readiness 
for  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  which  is  all  but  upon  you,  you  hesi- 
tate to  attach  to  your  side  a  place  whose  adhesion  or  estrangement 
is  alike  pregnant  with  the  most  vital  consequences.  For  it  lies  con- 
veniently for  the  coast-navigation  in  the  direction  of  Italy  and 
Sicily,  being  able  to  bar  the  passage  of  naval  reinforcements  from 
thence  to  Peloponnese,  and  from  Peloponnese  thither ;  and  it  is 
in  other  respects  a  most  desirable  station.  To  sum  up  as  shortly 
as  possible,  embracing  both  general  and  particular  considerations, 
let  this  show  you  the  folly  of  sacrificing  us.  Remember  that  there 
are  but  three  considerable  naval  powers  in  Hellas,  Athens,  Corcyra, 
and  Corinth,  and  that  if  you  allow  two  of  these  three  to  become 
one,  and  Corinth  to  secure  us  for  herself,  you  will  have  to  hold  the 
sea  against  the  united  fleets  of  Corcyra  and  Peloponnese.  But  if  you 
receive  us,  you  will  have  our  ships  to  reinforce  you  in  the  struggle." 


3o6  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Athens  was  won  over  to  the  Corcyrsean  side  and  sent  a  few- 
ships  which  she  supplemented  later,  as  we  know  from  Thucydides 
and  Plutarch  and  from  an  inscription  concerning  the  expenses  of 
this  expedition. 

Thucydides,  I,  44-45,  55 

When  the  Athenians  had  heard  both  out,  two  assemblies  were 
held.  In  the  first  there  was  a  manifest  disposition  to  listen  to  the 
representations  of  Corinth ;  in  the  second,  public  feeling  had 
changed,  and  an  alliance  with  Corcyra  was  decided  on,  with  cer- 
tain reservations.  It  was  to  be  a  defensive,  not  an  offensive  alli- 
ance. It  'did  not  involve  a  breach  of  the  treaty  with  Peloponnese  : 
Athens  could  not  be  required  to  join  Corcyra  in  any  attack  upon 
Corinth.  But  each  of  the  contracting  parties  had  a  right  to  the 
other's  assistance  against  invasion,  whether  of  his  own  territory,  or 
that  of  an  ally.  For  it  began  now  to  be  felt  that  the  coming  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war  was  only  a  question  of  time,  and  no  one  was 
willing  to  see  a  naval  power  of  such  magnitude  as  Corcyra  sacri- 
ficed to  Corinth  ;  though  if  they  could  let  them  weaken  each  other 
by  mutual  conflict,  it  would  be  no  bad  preparation  for  the  struggle 
which  Athens  might  one  day  have  to  wage  with  Corinth  and  the 
other  naval  powers.  At  the  same  time  the  island  seemed  to  lie 
conveniently  on  the  coastitig  passage  to  Italy  and  Sicily.  With 
these  views,  Athens  received  Corcyra  into  alliance,  and  on  the 
departure  of  the  Corinthians  not  long  afterwards,  sent  ten  ships  to 
their  assistance.  They  were  commanded  by  Lacedaemonius,  the 
son  of  Cimon,  Diotimus,  the  son  of  Strombichus,  and  Proteas,  the 
son  of  Epicles.  Their  instructions  were  to  avoid  collision  with 
the  Corinthian  fleet  except  under  certain  circumstances.  If  it 
sailed  to  Corcyra  and  threatened  a  landing  on  her  coast,  or  in  any 
of  her  possessions,  they  were  to  do  their  utmost  to  prevent  it. 
These  instructions  were  prompted  by  an  anxiety  to  avoid  a  breach 
of  the  treaty.  .  .  . 

This  was  the  first  cause  of  the  war  that  Corinth  had  against 
the  Athenians,  viz.  that  they  had  fought  against  them  with  the 
Corcyraeans  in  time  of  treaty. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  307 

Plutarch,  Ferides,  29 

After  this  was  over,  the  Peloponnesian  war  beginning  to  break 
out  in  full  tide,  he  advised  the  people  to  send  help  to  the  Corcy- 
rasans,  who  were  attacked  by  the  Corinthians,  and  to  secure  to 
themselves  an  island  possessed  of  great  naval  resources,  since  the 
Peloponnesians  were  already  all  but  in  actual  hostilities  against 
them.  The  people  readily  consenting  to  the  motion,  and  voting 
an  aid  and  succour  for  them,  he  despatched  Lacedaemonius,  Cimon's 
son,  having  only  ten  ships  with  him,  as  it  were  out  of  a  design  to 
affront  him.  .   .  . 

Being,  however,  ill  spoken  of  on  account  of  these  ten  galleys, 
as  having  afforded  but  a  small  supply  to  the  people  that  were  in 
need,  and  yet  given  a  great  advantage  to  those  who  might  complain 
of  the  act  of  intervention,  Pericles  sent  out  a  larger  force  afterwards 
to  Corcyra,  which  arrived  after  the  fight  was  over.  And  when  now 
the  Corinthians,  angry  and  indignant  with  the  Athenians,  accused 
them  publicly  at  Lacedaemon,  the  Megarians  joined  with  them, 
complaining  that  they  were,  contrary  to  common  right  and  the 
articles  of  peace  sworn  to  among  the  Greeks,  kept  out  and  driven 
away  from  every  market  and  from  all  ports  under  the  control  of 
the  Athenians.  The  yEginetans,  also,  professing  to  be  ill-used  and 
treated  with  violence,  made  supplications  in  private  to  the  Lacedae- 
monians for  redress,  though  not  daring  openly  to  call  the  Athenians 
in  question.  In  the  meantime,  also,  the  city  Potidaea,  under  the 
dominion  of  the  Athenians,  but  a  colony  formerly  of  the  Corin- 
thians, had  revolted,  and  was  beset  with  a  formal  siege,  and  was 
a  further  occasion  of  precipitating  the  war. 

Thucydides,  I,  51 

It  was  by  this  time  getting  late,  and  the  paean  had  been  sung 
for  the  attack,  when  the  Corinthians  suddenly  began  to  back  water. 
They  had  observed  twenty  Athenian  ships  sailing  up,  which  had 
been  sent  out  afterwards  to  reinforce  the  ten  vessels  by  the 
Athenians,  who  feared,  as  it  turned  out  justly,  the  defeat  of 
the  Corcyraeans  and  the  inability  of  their  handful  of  ships  to 
protect  them. 


3o8  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Hicks  and  Hill,  53 

Expenses  to  Corcyra-,  b.c.  433-432 

The  Athenians  spent  the  following  for  Corcyra : 
In  the  archonship  of  Apseudes  and  in  the  senate  for  which  Criti- 
ades  son  of  Phainus  of  Tithras  was  first  secretary,  the  treasurers 
of  the  sacred  moneys  of  Athena,  .  .  .  from  Cerameis  and  the 
archon-colleagues  for  whom  Crates  of  Lamptrae  son  of  Nauton 
was  secretary,  handed  over  to  the  generals  first  sailing  for  Cor- 
cyra, Lacedaemonius  of  Laciadae,  Proteas  of  /Exone,  Diotimus 
of  Euonymon,  in  the  first  piytany  of  /Eantis,  (thirteen  days  of  it 
had  passed  ?),  six  talents. 

In  the  archonship  of  Apseudes  and  the  senate  for  which  Criti- 
ades  of  Tithras  son  of  Phainus  was  first  secretary,  the  treasurers 
of  the  sacred  moneys  of  Athena,  ...  of  Erchia  and  his  fellow- 
archons  for  whom  Euthias  of  Anaphlystus,  son  of  yEschron,  was 
secretary,  handed  over  to  the  second  detachment  of  generals  set- 
ting out  for  Corcyra,  Glaucon  of  Cerameis,  Metagenes  of  Coele, 
Dracontides  from  Bate,  in  the  first  prytany  of  Mantis,  (the  last 
day  of  the  prytany  ?).... 

2.  POTID.^A 

Trouble  next  broke  out  in  the  north  in  Potidaea,  which  was  in 
the  embarrassing  position  of  being  a  Corinthian  colony  and  a 
tributary  ally  of  Athens. 

T/iiicydides,  I,  56-58 

Almost  immediately  after  this,  fresh  differences  arose  between 
the  Athenians  and  Peloponnesians,  and  contributed  their  share  to 
the  war.  Corinth  was  forming  schemes  for  retaliation,  and  Athens 
suspected  her  hostility.  The  Potidaeans,  who  inhabit  the  isthmus 
of  Pallene,  being  a  Corinthian  colony,  but  tributary  allies  of  Athens, 
were  ordered  to  raze  the  wall  looking  towards  Pallene,  to  give 
hostages,  to  dismiss  the  Corinthian  magistrates,  and  in  future  not 
to  receive  the  persons  sent  from  Corinth  annually  to  succeed  them. 
It  was  feared  that  they  might  be  persuaded  by  Perdiccas  and  the 
Corinthians  to  revolt,  and  might  draw  the  rest  of  the  allies  in  the 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  309 

direction  of  Thrace  to  revolt  with  them.  These  precautions  against 
the  Potidaeans  were  taken  by  the  Athenians  immediately  after 
the  battle  at  Corcyra.  .  .   . 

Meanwhile  the  Potidaeans  sent  envoys  to  Athens  on  the  chance 
of  persuading  them  to  take  no  new  steps  in  their  matters  ;  they 
also  went  to  Lacedaemon  with  the  Corinthians  to  secure  support  in 
case  of  need.  P"ailing  after  prolonged  negotiation  to  obtain  any- 
thing satisfactory  from  the  Athenians  ;  being  unable^  for  all  they 
could  say,  to  prevent  the  vessels  that  were  destined  for  Macedonia 
from  also  sailing  against  them  ;  and  receiving  from  the  Lacedae- 
monian government  a  promise  to  invade  Attica,  if  the  Athenians 
should  attack  Potidaea,  the  Potidaeans,  thus  favoured  by  the  moment, 
at  last  entered  into  league  with  the  Chalcidians  and  Bottiaeans,  and 
revolted.  And  Perdiccas  induced  the  Chalcidians  to  abandon  and 
demolish  their  towns  on  the  seaboard,  and  settling  inland  at  Olyn- 
thus,  to  make  that  one  city  a  strong  place :  meanwhile  to  those  who 
followed  his  advice  he  gave  a  part  of  his  territory  in  Mygdonia 
round  Lake  Bolbe  as  a  place  of  abode  while  the  war  against  the 
Athenians  should  last.  They  accordingly  demolished  their  towns, 
removed  inland,  and  prepared  for  war. 

Thucydides,  I,  63 

Returning  from  the  pursuit,  Aristeus  perceived  the  defeat  of  the 
rest  of  the  army.  Being  at  a  loss  which  of  the  two  risks  to  choose, 
whether  to  go  to  Olynthus  or  to  Potidtea,  he  at  last  determined  to 
draw  his  men  into  as  small  a  space  as  possible,  and  force  his  way 
with  a  run  into  Potidaea.  Not  without  difficulty,  through  a  storm 
of  missiles,  he  passed  along  by  the  breakwater  through  the  sea, 
and  brought  off  most  of  his  men  safe,  though  a  few  were  lost. 
Meanwhile  the  auxiliaries  of  the  Potidaeans  from  Olynthus,  which 
is  about  seven  miles  off,  and  in  sight  of  Potidaea,  when  the  battle 
began  and  the  signals  were  raised,  advanced  a  little  way  to  render 
assistance  ;  and  the  Macedonian  horse  formed  against  them  to  pre- 
vent it.  But  on  victory  speedily  declaring  for  the  Athenians  and 
the  signals  being  taken  down,  they  retired  back  within  the  wall ; 
and  the  Macedonians  returned  to  the  Athenians.  Thus  there  were 
no  cavalry  present  on  either  side.    After  the  battle  the  Athenians 


3IO  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

set  up  a  trophy,  and  gave  back  their  dead  to  the  Potidaeans  under 
truce.  The  Potidaeans  and  their  alHes  had  close  upon  three  hun- 
dred killed  ;  the  Athenians  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  their  own  citi- 
zens, and  Callias  their  general. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  54 

Epitaph  of  those  who  fell  at  Potid/EA 

The  air  received  the  souls,  the  earth  the  bodies  "of  those  who 
fell  at  Potidsea's  gates.  Some  lie  in  hostile  soil  among  their  foes, 
others  broke  past  the  wall.  .  .  .  This  city  and  the  people  of  P^rech- 
theus  mourn  its  men  who  fell  at  Potidaea  in  the  forefront  of  the 
fighting,  the  sons  of  Athens,  who  put  their  lives  into  the  balance 
and  bartered  them  for  glory  to  bring  honor  to  their  native  land. 
(Tr.  Macurdy  in  TJic  Classical  Weekly,  \o\.  II,  p.  139) 

It  was  in  this  battle  that  Alcibiades  made  his  military  debut. 
Plutarch  tells  a  charming  story  of  his  rescue  by  Socrates,  which 
he  repaid  in  like  manner  on  a  later  occasion. 

Plutarch,  Alcibiades,  8 

Whilst  he  was  very  young,  he  was  a  soldier  in  the  expedition 
against  Potidaea,  where  Socrates  lodged  in  the  same  tent  with 
him,  and  stood  next  to  him  in  battle.  Once  there  happened  a 
sharp  skirmish,  in  which  they  both  behaved  with  signal  bravery ; 
but  Alcibiades  receiving  a  wound,  Socrates  threw  himself  before 
him  to  defend  him,  and  beyond  any  question  saved  him  and  his 
arms  from  the  enemy,  and  so  in  all  justice  might  have  challenged 
the  prize  of  valour.  But  the  generals  appearing  eager  to  adjudge 
the  honour  to  Alcibiades,  because  of  his  rank,  Socrates,  who  de- 
sired to  increase  his  thirst  after  glory  of  a  noble  kind,  was  the  first 
to  give  evidence  for  him,  and  pressed  them  to  crown  him,  and  to 
decree  to  him  the  complete  suit  of  armour.  Afterwards,  in  the  battle 
of  Delium,  when  the  Athenians  were  routed,  and  Socrates  with  a 
few  others  was  retreating  on  foot,  Alcibiades,  who  was  on  horseback, 
observing  it,  would  not  pass  on,  but  stayed  to  shelter  him  from  the 
danger,  and  brought  him  safe  off,  though  the  enemy  pressed  hard 
upon  them,  and  cut  off  many.   But  this  happened  some  time  after. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  311 

Thiicydiilcs,  I,  66 

The  Athenians  and  Peloponnesians  had  these  antecedent  grounds 
of  complaint  against  each  other :  the  complaint  of  Corinth  was  that 
her  colony  of  Potidaea,  and  Corinthian  and  Peloponnesian  citizens 
within  it,  were  being  besieged  ;  that  of  Athens  against  the  Pelo- 
ponnesians that  they  had  incited  a  town  of  hers,  a  member  of  her 
alliance  and  a  contributor  to  her  revenue,  to  revolt,  and  had  come 
and  were  openly  fighting  against  her  on  the  side  of  the  Potidaeans. 
For  all  this,  war  had  not  yet  broken  out :  there  was  still  truce  for 
a  while ;  for  this  was  a  private  enterprise  on  the  part  of  Corinth. 

3.  SIDES  TAKEN 

After  this  Corinth  immediately  summoned  the  allies  to  Lace- 
daemon,  where  many  matters  were  discussed  ;  and  the  Corinthians, 
after  reproaching  the  Lacedaemonians  with  inactivity  about  coming 
to  their  aid,  thus  characterized  the  Athenians  : 

Thiuydides,  I,  70 

"  We  hope  that  none  of  you  will  consider  these  words  of  remon- 
strance to  be  rather  words  of  hostility ;  men  remonstrate  with 
friends  who  are  in  error,  accusations  they  reserve  for  enemies  who 
have  wronged  them.  Besides,  we  consider  that  we  have  as  good 
a  right  as  any  one  to  point  out  a  neighbour's  faults,  particularly 
when  we  contemplate  the  great  contrast  between  the  two  national 
characters  ;  a  contrast  of  which,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  you  have 
little  perception,  having  never  yet  considered  what  sort  of  antago- 
nists you  will  encounter  in  the  Athenians,  how  widely,  how  abso- 
lutely different  from  yourselves.  The  Athenians  are  addicted  to 
innovation,  and  their  designs  are  characterised  by  swiftness  alike 
in  conception  and  execution  ;  you  have  a  genius  for  keeping  what 
you  have  got,  accompanied  by  a  total  want  of  invention,  and  when 
forced  to  act  you  never  go  far  enough.  Again,  they  are  adventur- 
ous beyond  their  power,  and  daring  beyond  their  judgment,  and 
in  danger  they  are  sanguine  ;  your  wont  is  to  attempt  less  than  is 
justified  by  your  power,  to  mistrust  even  what  is  sanctioned  by 
your  judgment,  and  to  fancy  that  from  danger  there  is  no  release. 


312  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Further,  there  is  promptitude  on  their  side  against  procrastination 
on  yours  ;  they  are  never  at  home,  you  are  never  from  it :  for  they 
hope  by  their  absence  to  extend  their  acquisitions,  you  fear  by  your 
advance  to  endanger  what  you  have  left  behind.  They  are  swift  to 
follow  up  a  success,  and  slow  to  recoil  from  a  reverse.  Their  bodies 
they  spend  ungrudgingly  in  their  country's  cause  ;  their  intellect 
they  jealously  husband  to  be  employed  in  her  service.  A  scheme 
unexecuted  is  with  them  a  positive  loss,  a  successful  enterprise  a 
comparative  failure.  The  deficiency  created  by  the  miscarriage  of 
an  undertaking  is  soon  filled  up  by  fresh  hopes ;  for  they  alone  are 
enabled  to  call  a  thing  hoped  for  a  thing  got,  by  the  speed  with 
which  they  act  upon  their  resolutions.  Thus  they  toil  on  in  trouble 
and  danger  all  the  days  of  their  life,  with  little  opportunity  for  en- 
joying, being  ever  engaged  in  getting:  their  only  idea  of  a  holiday 
is  to  do  what  the  occasion  demands,  and  to  them  laborious  occupa- 
tion is  less  of  a  misfortune  than  the  peace  of  a  quiet  life.  To  de- 
scribe their  character  in  a  word,  one  might  truly  say  that  they  were 
born  into  the  world  to  take  no  rest  themselves  and  to  give  none 
to  others. 

"  Such  is  Athens,  your  antagonist." 

Archidamus,  the  Spartan  king,  fully  justified  the  usual  policy  of 
conservatism,  but  one  of  the  ephors  advocated  more  active  measures, 
and  finally  the  majority  voted  for  war. 

Thucydides,  I,  84-85 

"And  the  slowness  and  procrastination,  the  parts  of  our  character 
that  are  most  assailed  by  their  criticism,  need  not  make  you  blush. 
If  we  undertake  the  war  without  preparation,  we  should  by  hasten- 
ing its  commencement  only  delay  its  conclusion  :  further,  a  free 
and  a  famous  city  has  through  all  time  been  ours.  The  quality 
which  they  condemn  is  really  nothing  but  a  wise  moderation ;  thanks 
to  its  possession,  we  alone  do  not  become  insolent  in  success  and 
give  way  less  than  others  in  misfortune ;  we  are  not  carried  away 
by  the  pleasure  of  hearing  ourselves  cheered  on  to  risks  which  our 
judgment  condemns  ;  nor,  if  annoyed,  are  we  any  the  more  con- 
vinced by  attempts  to  exasperate  us  by  accusation.    We  are  both 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  313 

warlike  and  wise,  and  it  is  our  sense  of  order  that  makes  us  so. 
We  are  warlike,  because  self-control  contains  honour  as  a  chief 
constituent,  and  honour  bravery.  And  we  are  wise,  because  we  are 
educated  with  too  little  learning  to  despise  the  laws,  and  with  too 
severe  a  self-control  to  disobey  them,  and  are  brought  up  not  to  be 
too  knowing  in  useless  matters,  —  such  as  the  knowledge  which  can 
give  a  specious  criticism  of  an  enemy's  plans  in  theory,  but  fails  to 
assail  them  with  equal  success  in  practice,  —  but  are  taught  to  con- 
sider that  the  schemes  of  our  enemies  are  not  dissimilar  to  our  own, 
and  that  the  freaks  of  chance  are  not  determinable  by  calculation. 
In  practice  we  always  base  our  preparations  against  an  enemy  on 
the  assumption  that  his  plans  are  good  ;  indeed,  it  is  right  to  rest 
our  hopes  not  on  a  belief  in  his  blunders,  but  on  the  soundness  of 
our  provisions.  Nor  ought  we  to  believe  that  there  is  much  differ- 
ence between  man  and  man,  but  to  think  that  the  superiority  lies 
with  him  who  is  reared  in  the  severest  school.  These  practices, 
then,  which  our  ancestors  have  delivered  to  us,  and  by  whose 
maintenance  we  have  always  profited,  must  not  be  given  up.  And 
we  must  not  be  hurried  into  deciding  in  a  day's  brief  space  a 
question  which  concerns  many  lives  and  fortunes  and  many  cities, 
and  in  which  honour  is  deeply  involved,  —  but  we  must  decide 
calmly.  This  our  strength  peculiarly  enables  us  to  do.  As  for  the 
Athenians,  send  to  them  on  the  matter  of  Potidaea,  send  on  the 
matter  of  the  alleged  wrongs  of  the  allies,  particularly  as  they  are 
prepared  with  legal  satisfaction  ;  and  to  proceed  against  one  who 
offers  arbitration  as  against  a  wrongdoer,  law  forbids.  Meanwhile 
do  not  omit  preparation  for  war.  This  decision  will  be  the  best 
for  yourselves,  the  most  terrible  to  your  opponents." 

Thucydides,  I,  87-88,  125 

"Vote  therefore,  Lacedaemonians,  for  war,  as  the  honour  of  Sparta 
demands,  and  neither  allow  the  further  aggrandisement  of  Athens, 
nor  betray  our  allies  to  ruin,  but  with  the  gods  let  us  advance  against 
the  aggressors." 

With  these  words  he,  as  Ephor,  himself  put  the  question  to  the 
assembly  of  the  Lacedaemonians.  He  said  that  he  could  not  de- 
termine which  was  the  loudest  acclamation  (their  mode  of  decision 


314  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

is  by  acclamation  not  by  voting)  ;  the  fact  being  that  he  wished  to 
make  them  declare  their  opinion  openly  and  thus  to  increase  their 
ardour  for  war.  Accordingly  he  said,  "  All  Lacedaemonians  who  are 
of  opinion  that  the  treaty  has  been  broken,  and  that  Athens  is  guilty, 
leave  your  seats  and  go  there,"  pointing  out  a  certain  place  ;  "all 
who  are  of  the  opposite  opinion,  there."  They  accordingly  stood  up 
and  divided  ;  and  those  who  held  that  the  treaty  had  been  broken 
were  in  a  decided  majority.  Summoning  the  allies,  they  told  them 
that  their  opinion  was  that  Athens  had  been  guilty  of  injustice,  but 
that  they  wished  to  convoke  all  the  allies  and  put  it  to  the  vote  ;  in 
order  that,  they  might  make  war,  if  they  decided  to  do  so,  on  a 
common  resolution.  Having  thus  gained  their  point,  the  delegates 
returned  home  at  once  ;  the  Athenian  envoys  a  little  later,  when 
they  had  despatched  the  objects  of  their  mission.  This  decision  of 
the  assembly  judging  that  the  treaty  had  been  broken,  was  made  in 
the  fourteenth  year  of  the  thirty  years'  truce,  which  was  entered 
into  after  the  affair  of  Euboea. 

The  Lacedaemonians  voted  that  the  treaty  had  been  broken,  and 
that  war  must  be  declared,  not  so  much  because  they  were  persuaded 
by  the  arguments  of  the  allies,  as  because  they  feared  the  growth 
of  the  power  of  the  Athenians,  seeing  most  of  Hellas  already 
subject  to  them.  .  .  . 

The  Lacedaemonians  having  now  heard  all  give  their  opinion, 
took  the  vote  of  all  the  allied  states  present  in  order,  great  and 
small  alike  ;  and  the  majority  voted  for  war.  This  decided,  it  was 
still  impossible  for  them  to  commence  at  once,  from  their  want  of 
preparation  ;  but  it  was  resolved  that  the  means  requisite  were  to 
be  procured  by  the  different  states,  and  that  there  was  to  be  no 
delay.  And  indeed,  in  spite  of  the  time  occupied  with  the  neces- 
sary arrangements,  less  than  a  year  elapsed  before  Attica  was 
invaded,  and  the  war  openly  begun. 

The  Periclean  policy  outlined  in  this  speech  is  consistent  with 
what  had  been  previously  advocated  —  to  trust  to  the  ships  even 
at  the  cost  of  abandoning  property  on  land. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  315 

Thticydiilcs,  I,  140-142 

"There  is  one  principle,  Athenians,  which  I  hold  to  through 
ever)'thing,  and  that  is  the  principle  of  no  concession  to  the  Pelo- 
ponnesians.  I  know  that  the  spirit  which  inspires  men  while  they 
are  being  persuaded  to  make  war  is  not  always  retained  in  action  ; 
that  as  circumstances  change,  resolutions  change.  Yet  I  see  that 
now  as  before  the  same,  almost  literally  the  same,  counsel  is  de- 
manded of  me  ;  and  I  put  it  to  those  of  you,  who  are  allowing 
yourselves  to  be  persuaded,  to  support  the  national  resolves  even 
in  the  case  of  reverses,  or  to  forfeit  all  credit  for  their  wisdom  in 
the  event  of  success.  For  sometimes  the  course  of  things  is  as 
arbitrary  as  the  plans  of  man  ;  indeed  this  is  why  we  usually  blame 
chance  for  whatever  does  not  happen  as  we  expected.  Now  it  was 
clear  before,  that  Lacedasmon  entertained  designs  against  us  ;  it  is 
still  more  clear  now.  The  treaty  provides  that  we  shall  mutually 
submit  our  differences  to  legal  settlement,  and  that  we  shall  mean- 
while each  keep  what  we  have.  Yet  the  Lacedaemonians  never  yet 
made  us  any  such  offer,  never  yet  would  -accept  from  us  any  such 
offer ;  on  the  contrary,  they  wish  complaints  to  be  settled  by  war 
instead  of  by  negotiation  ;  and  in  the  end  we  find  them  here  drop- 
ping the  tone  of  expostulation  and  adopting  that  of  command. 
They  order  us  to  raise  the  siege  of  Potidaea,  to  let  yEgina  be  inde- 
pendent, to  revoke  the  Megara  decree  ;  and  they  conclude  with  an 
ultimatum  warning  us  to  leave  the  Hellenes  independent.  I  hope 
that  you  will  none  of  you  think  that  we  shall  be  going  to  war  for  a 
trifle  if  we  refuse  to  revoke  the  Megara  decree,  which  appears  in 
front  of  their  complaints,  and  the  revocation  of  which  is  to  save  us 
from  war,  or  let  any  feeling  of  self-reproach  linger  in  your  minds, 
as  if  you  went  to  war  for  slight  cause.  Why,  this  trifle  contains 
the  whole  seal  and  trial  of  your  resolution.  If  you  give  way,  you 
will  instantly  have  to  meet  some  greater  demand,  as  having  been 
frightened  into  obedience  in  the  first  instance  ;  while  a  firm  refusal 
will  make  them  clearly  understand  that  they  must  treat  you  more 
as  equals.  Make  your  decision  therefore  at  once,  either  to  submit 
before  you  are  harmed,  or  if  we  are  to  go  to  war,  as  I  for  one  think 
we  ought,  to  do  so  without  caring  whether  the  ostensible  cause  be 
great  or  small,  resolved  against  making  concessions  or  consenting 


3l6  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

to  a  precarious  tenure  of  our  possessions.  For  all  claims  from  an 
equal,  urged  upon  a  neighbour  as  commands,  before  any  attempt 
at  legal  settlement,  be  they  great  or  be  they  small,  have  only  one 
meaning,  and  that  is  slavery. 

"  As  to  the  war  and  the  resources  of  either  party,  a  detailed  com- 
parison will  not  show  you  the  inferiority  of  Athens.  Personally 
engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  their  land,  without  funds  either  private 
or  public,  the  Peloponnesians  are  also  without  experience  in  long 
wars  across  sea,  from  the  strict  limit  which  poverty  imposes  on  their 
attacks  upon  each  other.  Powers  of  this  description  are  quite  in- 
capable of  often  manning  a  fleet  or  often  sending  out  an  army : 
they  cannot  afford  the  absence  from  their  homes,  the  expenditure 
from  their  own  funds  ;  and  besides,  they  have  not  command  of  the 
sea.  Capital,  it  must  be  remembered,  maintains  a  war  more  than 
forced  contributions.  Farmers  are  a  class  of  men  that  are  always 
more  ready  to  serve  in  person  than  in  purse.  Confident  that  the 
former  will  survive  the  dangers,  they  are  by  no  means  so  sure  that 
the  latter  will  not  be  prematurely  exhausted,  especially  if  the  war 
last  longer  than  they  expect,  which  it  very  likely  will.  In  a  single 
battle  the  Peloponnesians  and  their  allies  may  be  able  to  defy  all 
Hellas,  but  they  are  incapacitated  from  carrying  on  a  war  against 
a  power  different  in  character  from  their  own,  by  the  want  of  the 
single  council-chamber  requisite  to  prompt  and  vigorous  action,  and 
the  substitution  of  a  diet  composed  of  various  races,  in  which  every 
state  possesses  an  equal  vote,  and  each  presses  its  own  ends,  a 
condition  of  things  which  generally  results  in  no  action  at  all.  The 
great  wish  of  some  is  to  avenge  themselves  on  some  particular 
enemy,  the  great  wish  of  others  to  save  their  own  pocket.  Slow  in 
assembling,  they  devote  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  time  to  the 
consideration  of  any  public  object,  most  of  it  to  the  prosecution  of 
their  own  objects.  Meanwhile  each  fancies  that  no  harm  will  come 
of  his  neglect,  that  it  is  the  business  of  somebody  else  to  look  after 
this  or  that  for  him  ;  and  so,  by  the  same  notion  being  entertained 
by  all  separately,  the  common  cause  imperceptibly  decays. 

'"  But  the  principal  point  is  the  hindrance  that  they  will  experience 
from  want  of  money.  The  slowness  with  which  it  comes  in  will 
cause  delay  ;  but  the  opportunities  of  war  wait  for  no  man.   Again, 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  317 

we  need  not  be  alarmed  either  at  the  possibility  of  their  raising 
fortifications  in  Attica,  or  at  their  navy.  It  would  be  difficult  for 
any  system  of  fortifications  to  establish  a  rival  city,  even  in  time  of 
peace,  much  more,  surely,  in  an  enemy's  country,  with  Athens  just 
as  much  fortified  against  it,  as  it  against  Athens  ;  while  a  mere 
post  might  be  able  to  do  some  harm  to  the  country  by  incursions 
and  by  the  facilities  which  it  would  afford  for  desertion,  but  can 
never  prevent  our  sailing  into  their  country  and  raising  fortifications 
there,  and  making  reprisals  with  our  powerful  fleet.  For  our  naval 
skill  is  of  more  use  to  us  for  service  on  land,  than  their  military 
skill  for  service  at  sea.  Familiarity  with  the  sea  they  will  not  find 
an  easy  acquisition.  If  you  who  have  been  practising  at  it  ever  since 
the  Median  invasion  have  not  yet  brought  it  to  perfection,  is  there 
any  chance  of  anything  considerable  being  effected  by  an  agri- 
cultural, unseafaring  population,  who  will  besides  be  prevented  from 
practising  by  the  constant  presence  of  strong  squadrons  of  obser- 
vation from  Athens  ?  With  a  small  squadron  they  might  hazard 
an  engagement,  encouraging  their  ignorance  by  numbers  ;  but  the 
restraint  of  a  strong  force  will  prevent  their  moving,  and  through 
want  of  practice  they  will  grow  more  clumsy,  and  consequently 
more  timid.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  seamanship,  just  like 
anything  else,  is  a  matter  of  art,  and  will  not  admit  of  being  taken 
up  occasionally  as  an  occupation  for  times  of  leisure  ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  is  so  exacting  as  to  leave  leisure  for  nothing  else. 

Thucydides,  I,  143,  145 

"  This,  I  think,  is  a  tolerably  fair  account  of  the  position  of  the 
Peloponnesians  ;  that  of  Athens  is  free  from  the  defects  that  I  have 
criticised  in  them,  and  has  other  advantages  of  its  own,  which  they 
can  show  nothing  to  equal.  If  they  march  against  our  country  we 
will  sail  against  theirs,  and  it  will  then  be  found  that  the  desolation 
of  the  whole  of  Attica  is  not  the  same  as  that  of  even  a  fraction 
of  Peloponnese  ;  for  they  will  not  be  able  to  supply  the  deficiency 
except  by  a  battle,  while  we  have  plenty  of  land  both  on  the  islands 
and  the  continent.  The  rule  of  the  sea  is  indeed  a  great  matter. 
Consider  for  a  moment.  Suppose  that  we  were  islanders  :  can  you 
conceive  a  more  impregnable  position  }  Well,  this  in  future  should, 


3l8  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

as  far  as  possible,  be  our  conception  of  our  position.  Dismissing 
all  thought  of  our  land  and  houses,  we  must  vigilantly  guard  the 
sea  and  the  city.  No  irritation  that  we  may  feel  for  the  former 
must  provoke  us  to  a  battle  with  the  numerical  superiority  of  the 
Peloponnesians.  .  .  .  Did  not  our  fathers  resist  the  Medes  not  only 
with  resources  far  different  from  ours,  but  even  when  those  resources 
had  been  abandoned ;  and  more  by  wisdom  than  by  fortune,  more 
by  daring  than  by  strength,  did  not  they  beat  off  the  barbarian  and 
advance  their  affairs  to  their  present  height }  We  must  not  fall  be- 
hind them,  but  must  resist  our  enemies  in  any  way  and  in  every  way, 
and  attempt  to  hand  down  our  power  to  our  posterity  unimpaired." 

4.  THE  ATHENIAN  POPULATION;    CONDITIONS  IN  ATTICA 
The  people  of  Attica,  though  legally  Athenians  who  went  to 
town  for  all  official  business,  lived  largely  on  farms  or  estates  in 
the  country.    The  rural  population  was  a  source  of  great  joy  to 
the  comic  poets,  whose  characters  are  largely  drawn  from  it. 

They  were  willing,  however,  to  make  the  sacrifice  in  spite  of 
the  discomfort  it  involved. 

Thucydides,  II,  14,  16-17 

The  Athenians  listened  to  his  advice,  and  began  to  carry  in 
their  wives  and  children  from  the  country,  and  all  their  household 
furniture,  even  to  the  woodwork  of  their  houses  which  they  took 
down.  Their  sheep  and  cattle  they  sent  over  to  Euboea  and  the 
adjacent  islands.  But  they  found  it  hard  to  move,  as  most  of 
them  had  been  always  used  to  live  in  the  country. 

From  very  early  times  this  had  been  more  the  case  with  the 
Athenians  than  with  others.  ... 

The  Athenians  thus  long  lived  scattered  over  Attica  in  inde- 
pendent townships.  Even  after  the  centralisation  of  Theseus,  old 
habit  still  prevailed  ;  and  from  the  early  times  down  to  the  present 
war  most  Athenians  still  lived  in  the  country  with  their  families 
and  households,  and  were  consequently  not  at  all  inclined  to  move 
now,  especially  as  they  had  only  just  restored  their  establishments 
after  the  Median  invasion.    Deep  was  their  trouble  and  discontent 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  319 

at  abandoning  their  houses  and  the  hereditary  temples  of  the 
ancient  constitution,  and  at  having  to  change  their  habits  of  hfe 
and  to  bid  farewell  to  what  each  regarded  as  his  native  city.  .  .  . 
When  they  arrived  at  Athens,  though  a  few  had  houses  of  their 
own  to  go  to,  or  could  find  an  asylum  with  friends  or  relatives,  by 
far  the  greater  number  had  to  take  up  their  dwelling  in  the  parts 
of  the  city  that  were  not  built  over  and  in  the  temples  and  chapels 
of  the  heroes,  except  the  Acropolis  and  the  temple  of  the  Eleusin- 
ian  Demeter  and  such  other  places  as  were  always  kept  closed. 
The  occupation  of  the  plot  of  ground  lying  below  the  citadel  called 
the  Pelasgicon  had  been  forbidden  by  a  curse ;  and  there  was  also 
an  ominous  fragment  of  a  Pythian  oracle  which  said  — 

Leave  the  Pelasgian  parcel  desolate, 
Woe  worth  the  day  that  men  inhabit  it ! 

Yet  this  too  was  now  built  over  in  the  necessity  of  the  moment. 
And  in  my  opinion,  if  the  oracle  proved  true,  it  was  in  the  oppo- 
site sense  to  what  was  expected,  P'or  the  misfortunes  of  the  state 
did  not  arise  from  the  unlawful  occupation,  but  the  necessity  of 
the  occupation  from  the  war  ;  and  though  the  god  did  not  mention 
this,  he  foresaw  that  it  would  be  an  evil  day  for  Athens  in  which 
the  plot  came  to  be  inhabited.  Many  also  took  up  their  quarters 
in  the  towers  of  the  walls  or  wherever  else  they  could.  For  when 
they  were  all  come  in,  the  city  proved  too  small  to  hold  them ; 
though  afterwards  they  divided  the  long  walls  and  a  great  part  of 
Piraeus,  into  lots  and  settled  there.  All  this  while  great  attention 
was  being  given  to  the  war ;  the  allies  were  being  mustered,  and 
an  armament  of  a  hundred  ships  ecjuipped  for  Peloponnese.  Such 
was  the  state  of  preparation  at  Athens. 

Besides  the  rural  population,  there  was  a  large  and  heteroge- 
neous throng  in  the  Piraeus.  It  was  made  up  of  sailors,  traders,  and 
laborers,  who  in  politics  were  usually  extreme  democrats.  They 
are  well  characterized  in  the  following  passage.  It  is  sometimes 
difficult  to  tell  how  far  the  subtle  irony  is  to  be  taken  seriously. 
We  know  that  the  author  (sometimes  called  Xenophon,  but  almost 
surely  not  he)  was  not  in  sympathy  with  democratic  government. 


320  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Athenians,  I,  2 

•  In  the  first  place,  I  maintain,  it  is  only  just  that  the  poorer 
classes  and  the  People  of  Athens  should  be  better  off  than  the 
men  of  birth  and  wealth,  seeing  that  it  is  the  people  who  man  the 
fleet,  and  put  round  the  city  her  girdle  of  power.  The  steersman, 
the  boatswain,  the  lieutenant,  the  look-out-man .  at  the  prow,  the 
shipwright  —  these  are  the  people  who  engird  the  city  with  power 
far  rather  than  her  heavy  infantry  and  men  of  birth  and  quality. 
This  being  the  case,  it  seems  only  just  that  offices  of  state  should 
be  thrown  open  to  every  one  both  in  the  ballot  and  the  show  of 
hands,  and  that  the  right  of  speech  should  belong  to  any  one  who 
likes,  without  restriction.  For,  observe,  there  are  many  of  these 
offices  which,  according  as  they  are  in  good  or  in  bad  hands,  are 
a  source  of  safety  or  of  danger  to  the  People,  and  in  these  the 
People  prudently  abstains  from  sharing ;  as,  for  instance,  it  does 
not  think  it  incumbent  on  itself  to  share  in  the  functions  of  the 
general  or  of  the  commander  of  cavalry.  The  sovereign  People 
recognizes  the  fact  that  in  forgoing  the  personal  exercise  of  these 
offices,  and  leaving  them  to  the  control  of  the  more  powerful  citi- 
zens, it  secures  the  balance  of  advantage  to  itself.  It  is  only  those 
departments  of  government  which  bring  emolument  and  assist  the 
private  estate  that  the  People  cares  to  keep  in  its  own  hands. 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Athenians,  I,  12 

It  is  for  this  reason  then  that  we  have  established  an  equality 
between  our  slaves  and  free  men  ;  and  again  between  our  resident 
aliens  and  full  citizens,  because  the  city  stands  in  need  of  her  resi- 
dent aliens  to  meet  the  requirements  of  such  a  multiplicity  of  arts 
and  for  the  purposes  of  her  navy.  That  is,  I  repeat,  the  justifica- 
tion of  the  equality  conferred  upon  our  resident  aliens. 

Xenophon,  Polity  of  the  Athenians,  II,  11 

As  to  wealth,  the  Athenians  are  exceptionally  placed  with  regard 
to  Hellenic  and  foreign  communities  alike,  in  their  ability  to  hold 
it.  For,  given  that  some  state  or  other  is  rich  in  timber  for  ship- 
building, where  is  it  to  find  a  market  for  the  product  except  by 
persuading  the  ruler  of  the  sea  }    Or,  suppose  the  wealth  of  some 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  321 

state  or  other  to  consist  of  iron,  or  may  be  of  bronze,  or  of  linen 
yarn,  where  will  it  find  a  market  except  by  permission  of  the  su- 
preme maritime  power  ?  Yet  these  are  the  very  things,  you  see, 
which  I  need  for  my  ships.  Timber  I  must  have  from  one,  and 
from  another  iron,  from  a  third  bronze,  from  a  fourth  linen  yarn, 
from  a  fifth  wax,  etc.  Besides  which  they  will  not  suffer  their 
antagonists  in  those  parts  to  carry  these  products  elsewhither,  or 
they  will  cease  to  use  the  sea.  Accordingly  I,  without  one  stroke 
of  labour,  extract  from  the  land  and  possess  all  these  good  things, 
thanks  to  my  supremacy  on  the  sea  ;  whilst  not  a  single  other  state 
possesses  the  two  of  them.  Not  timber,  for  instance,  and  yarn 
together,  the  same  city.  But  where  yarn  is  abundant,  the  soil  will 
be  light  and  devoid  of  timber.  And  in  the  same  way  bronze  and 
iron  will  not  be  products  of  the  same  city.  And  so  for  the  rest, 
never  two,  or  at  best  three,  in  one  state,  but  one  thing  here  and 
another  thing  there.  Moreover,  above  and  beyond  what  has  been 
said,  the  coast-line  of  every  mainland  presents,  either  some  jutting 
promontory,  or  adjacent  island,  or  narrow  strait  of  some  sort,  so 
that  those  who  are  masters  of  the  sea  can  come  to  moorings  at 
one  of  these  points  and  wreak  vengeance  on  the  inhabitants  of 
the  mainland. 


II.    The  Ten  Years'  War,  431-421 

1.  SPARTAN   INVASION  OF  ATTICA  AND   ITS   RESULTS 

Finally  the  threatened  invasion  of  Attica  took  place,  and  the 
Athenians  had  to  look  on  and  see  their  fields  plundered  and  their 
crops  destroyed. 

The  blame  for  this  was  laid  on  Pericles,  who  had  seen  to  the  pas- 
sage of  certain  decrees  excluding  Megara  from  trade.  The  Mega- 
rians  had  then  turned  to  the  Spartans  for  help  in  securing  justice, 

T/iucydides,  II,  19,  21 

But  after  he  had  assaulted  CEnoe,  and  every  possible  attempt  to 
take  it  had  failed,  as  no  herald  came  from  Athens,  he  at  last  broke 
up  his  camp  and  invaded  Attica.    This  was  about  eighty  days  after 


322  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

the  Theban  attempt  upon  Platasa,  just  in  the  middle  of  summer, 
when  the  corn  was  ripe,  and  Archidamus,  son  of  Zeuxis,  king  of 
Lacedaemon,  was  in  command.  Encamping  in  Eleusis  and  the 
Thriasian  plain,  they  began  their  ravages,  and  putting  to  flight 
some  Athenian  horse  at  a  place  called  Rheiti,  or  the  Brooks,  they 
then  advanced,  keeping  Mount  yEgaleus  on  their  right,  through 
Cropia,  until  they  reached  Acharnae,  the  largest  of  the  Athenian 
demes  or  townships.  Sitting  down  before  it,  they  formed  a  camp 
there,  and  continued  their  ravages  for  a  long  while.   .  .  . 

In  the  meanwhile,  as  long  as  the  army  was  at  Eleusis  and  the 
Thriasian  plain,  hopes  were  still  entertained  of  its  not  advancing 
any  nearer.  It  was  remembered  that  Pleistoanax,  son  of  Pausanias, 
king  of  Lacedaemon,  had  invaded  Attica  with  a  Peloponnesian 
army  fourteen  years  before,  but  had  retreated  without  advancing 
farther  than  Eleusis  and  Thria,  which  indeed  proved  the  cause  of 
his  exile  from  Sparta,  as  it  was  thought  he  had  been  bribed  to 
retreat.  But  when  they  saw  the  army  at  Acharnae,  barely  seven 
miles  from  Athens,  they  lost  all  patience.  The  territory  of  Athens 
was  being  ravaged  before  the  very  eyes  of  the  Athenians,  a  sight 
which  the  young  men  had  never  seen  before  and  the  old  only  in 
the  Median  wars  ;  and  it  was  naturally  thought  a  grievous  insult, 
and  the  determination  was  universal,  especially  among  the  young 
men,  to  sally  forth  and  stop  it.  Knots  were  formed  in  the  streets 
and  engaged  in  hot  discussion  ;  for  if  the  proposed  sally  was 
warmly  recommended,  it  was  also  in  some  cases  opposed.  Oracles 
of  the  most  various  import  were  recited  by  the  collectors,  and  found 
eager  listeners  in  one  or  other  of  the  disputants.  P"oremost  in 
pressing  for  the  sally  were  the  Acharnians,  as  constituting  no 
small  part  of  the  army  of  the  state,  and  as  it  was  their  land  that 
was  being  ravaged.  In  short,  the  whole  city  was  in  a  most  excited 
state  ;  Pericles  was  the  object  of  general  indignation  ;  his  previous 
counsels  were  totally  forgotten  ;  he  was  abused  for  not  leading  out 
the  army  which  he  commanded,  and  was  made  responsible  for  the 
whole  of  the  public  suffering. 

In  the  "  Acharnians  "  Aristophanes  describes  the  unfortunate 
countryman,   Dicasopolis,   who  is  miserable  in  the  city  and  only 


.»      THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  325 

too  eager  for  peace  that  he  may  go  back  to  his  farm.  The  Achar- 
nians,  who  Hve  in  a  Httle  village  near  Mount  Parnes,  have  seen 
their  lands  ravaged  and  are  anti-Spartan  to  the  backbone. 

Aristophanes,  Achaniians,  32-39  (tr.  Frere) 

I  fidget  about,  and  yawn  and  scratch  myself ; 
Looking  in  vain  to  the  prospect  of  the  fields, 
Loathing  the  city,  longing  for  a  peace. 
To  return  to  my  poor  village  and  my  farm, 
That  never  used  to  cry,  "  Come  buy  my  charcoal !  " 
Nor,  '"  Buy  my  oil !  "  nor  "  Buy  my  anything !  " 
But  gave  me  what  I  wanted,  freely  and  fairly, 
Clear  of  all  cost,  with  never  a  word  of  buying, 
Or  such  buy- words.    So  here  I  'm  come,  resolved 
To  bawl,  to  abuse,  to  interrupt  the  speakers, 
Whenever  I  hear  a  word  of  any  kind 
Except  for  an  immediate  peace. 

Aristophanes,  Acharnians,  300-330 

Chorus.  We  detest  you  worse  than  Cleon,  him  that,  if  he  gets 
his  dues, 
We  shall  cut  up  into  thongs  to  serve  the  knights  for  straps  and 

shoes. 
We  'II  not  hear  ye  ;  your  alliance  with  the  worst  of  enemies. 
With  the  wicked  hated  Spartans,  we  '11  avenge  it  and  chastise 
Dic.EOPOLis.  Don't  be  talking  of  the  Spartans ;   't  is  another 
question  wholly. 
All  my  guilt  or  innocence  depends  upon  the  treaty  solely. 

Cho.  Don't  imagine  to    cajole  us  with  your  arguments   and 
fetches ; 
You  confess  you  made  a  peace  with  those  abominable  wretches. 
Die.  Well,   the   veiy   Spartans   even,  —  I  've   my  doubts  and 
scruples  whether 
They  've  been  totally  to  blame,  in  ev'ry  instance,  altogether 

Cho.  Not  to  blame  in  every  instance  !  Villain,  vagabond,  how 
dare  ye. 
Talking  treason  to  our  faces,  to  suppose  that  we  should  spare  ye. 


324  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY  ■ 

Die.   Not  so  totally  to  blame  ;   and  I  would  show  that,  here  and 
there, 
The  treatment  they  received  from  us  has  not  been  absolutely  fair, 
Cho,  What  a  scandal !   what  an  insult !    what  an  outrage  on 
the  state ! 
Are  ye  come  to  plead  before  us  as  the  Spartans'  advocate  ? 

Die.  I  'm  prepared  to  plead  the  cause,  and  bring  my  neck  here 
for  a  pledge. 
Placed  upon  the  chopping  block,  ready  to  meet  the  axe's  edge. 

Cho.  Don't  be  standing  shilly-shally,  comrades,  let  the  traitor  die. 
Pummel  him  with  stones  to  pieces,  pound  and  maul  him  utterly, 
Mash  the  villain  to  a  jelly,  like  a  vat  of  purple  dye. 

Die.  I  'm  astonished  at  your  temper.   Won't  you  give  me  leave 
to  say 
Something  in  my  own  defence,  my  good  Acharnians .''    Hear  me, 
pray ! 
Cho.  We  're  determined  not  to  hear  ye. 

Die.  That  will  be  severe  indeed. 

Cho.  We  're  determined. 

Die.  Good  Acharnians,  give  me  time  and  hear  me  plead. 

Cho.  Death  awaits  you,  death  this  instant. 

Die.  Then  the  quick  resolve  is  taken. 

Know  that  I  've  secured  a  hostage  destined  to  redeem  my  bacon. 

He,  your  homebred  kindly  kinsman,  he  with  me  shall  live  or 

perish. 

Aristophanes,  Acharnians^  509-522 

Die.   First,  I  detest  the  Spartans  most  extremely ; 
And  wish,  that  Neptune,  the  Tsenarian  deity, 
Would  bury  them  in  their  houses  with  his  earthquakes. 
For  I  've  had  losses  —  losses,  let  me  tell  ye. 
Like  other  people  ;  vines  cut  down  and  injured. 
But,  among  friends  (for  only  friends  are  here,) 
Why  should  we  blame  the  Spartans  for  all  this  1 
For  people  of  ours,  some  people  of  our  own, 
Some  people  from  amongst  us  here,  I  mean  ; 
But  not  the  people  (pray  remember  that ;) 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  325 

I  never  said  the  people,  —  but  a  pack 
Of  paltry  people,  mere  pretended  citizens, 
Base  counterfeits,  went  laying  informations, 
And  making  a  confiscation  of  the  jerkins 
Imported  here  from  Megara  ;  pigs  moreover. 
Pumpkins,  and  pecks  of  salt,  and  ropes  of  onions, 
Were  voted  to  be  merchandise  from  Megara, 
Denounced,  and  seized,  and  sold  upon  the  spot. 

Aristophanes,  Achaniiaiis,  530-554 

Die.   For  Pericles,  like  an  Olympian  Zeus, 
With  all  his  thunder  and  his  thunderbolts. 
Began  to  storm  and  lighten  dreadfully. 
Alarming  all  the  neighbourhood  of  Greece  ; 
And  made  decrees,  drawn  up  like  drinking  songs, 
In  which  it  was  enacted  and  concluded, 
That  the  Megarians  should  remain  excluded 
From  every  place  where  commerce  was  transacted. 
With  all  their  ware  —  like  '"  old  care  "  —  in  the  ballad  : 
And  this  decree,  by  land  and  sea,  was  valid. 

Then  the  Megarians,  being  all  half  starved, 
Desired  the  Spartans,  to  desire  of  us. 
Just  to  repeal  those  laws  ;  the  laws  I  mentioned. 
Occasioned  by  the  stealing  of  those  strumpets. 
And  so  they  begged  and  prayed  us  several  times ; 
And  we  refused ;  and  so  they  went  to  war. 
You'll  say,   "They  should  not."    Why,  what  should  they 

have  done .'' 
Just  make  it  your  own  case  ;  suppose  the  Spartans 
Had  manned  a  boat,  and  landed  on  your  islands. 
And  stolen  a  pug  puppy  from  Seriphos  ; 
Would  you  then  have  remained  at  home  inglorious  1 
Not  so,  by  no  means ;  at  the  first  report. 
You  would  have  launched  at  once  three  hundred  gallies. 
And  filled  the  city  with  the  noise  of  troops ; 
And  crews  of  ships,  crowding  and  clamouring 
About  the  muster-masters  and  pay-masters  ; 


326  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

With  measuring  corn  out  at  the  magazine, 
And  all  the  porch  choked  with  the  multitude ; 
With  figures  of  Athena,  newly  furbished, 
Painted  and  gilt,  parading  in  the  streets ; 
With  wineskins,  kegs,  and  firkins,  leeks  and  onions ; 
With  garlic  crammed  in  pouches,  nets,  and  pokes ; 
With  garlands,  singing  girls,  and  bloody  noses. 
Our  arsenal  would  have  sounded  and  resounded 
With  bangs  and  thwacks  of  driving  bolts  and  nails ; 
With  shaping  oars,  and  holes  to  put  the  oar  in  ; 
With  hacking,  hammering,  clattering  and  boring ; 
Words  of  command,  whistles  and  pipes  and  fifes. 

"'  Such  would  have  been  your  conduct.    Will  you  say, 
That  Telephus  should  have  acted  otherwise  ?  " 

Aristophanes,  Peace,  603-614  (tr.  Rogers) 

Hermes.    O    most   sapient   worthy   farmers,    listen    now   and 
understand. 
If  you  fain  would  learn  the  reason,  why  it  was  she  left  the  land. 
Phidias  began  the  mischief,  having  come  to  grief  and  shame, 
Pericles  was  next  in  order,  fearing  he  might  share  the  blame. 
Dreading  much  your  hasty  temper,  and  your  savage  bulldog  ways, 
So  before  misfortune  reached  him,  he  contrived  a  flame  to  raise, 
By  his  Megara-enactment  setting  all  the  world  ablaze. 
Such  a  bitter  smoke  ascended  while  the  flames  of  war  he  blew. 
That  from  every  eye  in  Hellas  everywhere  the  tears  it  drew. 
Wailed  the  vine,  and  rent  its  branches,  when  the  evil  news  it  heard  ; 
Butt  on  butt  was  dashed  and  shivered,  by  revenge  and  anger 

stirred  ; 
There  was  none  to  stay  the  tumult ;  Peace  in  silence  disappeared. 

2.  THE   DEATH   AND   SUCCESSORS   OF  PERICLES 

In  spite  of  the  unpopularity  of  Pericles  and  the  hostile  criticisms 
with  which  he  was  deluged,  the  Athenians  must  often  have  wished 
him  back,  for  after  his  death  the  leadership  was  assumed  by  most 
inferior  persons. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  327 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXVIII 

So  long  then  as  Perikles  was  at  the  head  of  the  people,  the  gov- 
ernment went  on  better,  but  on  his  death  it  became  much  worse. 
For  then,  for  the  first  time,  the  people  took  for  its  leader  a  man 
who  was  not  held  in  respect  by  such  as  entertained  moderate 
views ;  whereas  in  former  times  it  had  always,  without  exception, 
been  led  by  men  of  character.  .  .  .  On  the  death  of  Perikles, 
Nikias  took  the  lead  of  the  nobles,  he  who  met  his  end  in  Sicily ; 
and  of  the  democratic  party,  Kleon,  the  son  of  Kleaenetus.  He 
has  the  reputation  of  having,  more  than  any  other  man,  led  the 
people  astray  by  his  impetuosity,  and  was  the  first  to  raise  his  voice 
to  a  shriek  from  the  rostra  and  indulge  in  abusive  language,  and 
to  harangue  with  his  apron  on,  while  everybody  else  respected  the 
ordinary  decencies  of  public  speaking.  After  them  Theramenes, 
the  son  of  Hagnon,  led  the  other  side,  while  at  the  head  of  the 
people  was  Kleophon,  the  lyre-maker,  who  first  introduced  the 
payment  of  the  two  obols.  For  some  time  he  distributed  it,  but 
afterwards  Kallikrates,  the  Paeanian,  put  a  stop  to  it,  having  first 
promised  that  he  would  add  another  obol  to  the  two  obols.  Later 
on  they  were  both  condemned  to  death  ;  for  it  is  the  custom  of  the 
masses,  when  they  discover  that  they  have  been  grossly  deceived, 
to  hate  those  who  have  led  them  on  to  do  anything  that  is  not 
right.  And  from  Kleophon  onward  the  leadership  of  the  people 
successively  passed  without  interruption  to  such  men  as  were  the 
most  willing  to  act  boldly  and  gratify  the  populace,  looking  only  to 
the  immediate  present.  For  of  those  who  conducted  the  govern- 
ment at  Athens,  and  succeeded  to  the  old  rulers,  Nikias  and  Thu- 
cydides  and  Theramenes  appear  to  have  approved  themselves  the 
best.  In  the  case  of  Nikias  and  Thucydides  almost  all  agree  that 
they  showed  themselves  to  be  not  only  good  and  honourable  men, 
but  also  fit  to  govern,  and  that  they  administered  the  state  in  every 
respect  in  conformity  with  the  national  traditions.  With  regard  to 
Theramenes,  however,  as  disturbances  in  the  forms  of  government 
occurred  in  his  time,  opinions  differ.  Still,  he  seems  to  such  as 
do  not  express  a  mere  off-hand  opinion,  not  to  have  overthrown 
all  these  forms,  as  his  accusers  charge  him  with  doing,  but  to  have 
carried  on  all  of  them  so  long  as  they  did  not  contravene  the  laws  ; 


328  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

thus  acting  like  a  man  who  was  able  to  live  under  any  forni  of 
government,  which  is  indeed  the  duty  of  a  good  citizen,  but  who 
would  not  be  a  party  to  any  that  was  contrary  to  the  law,  and  so 
he  became  an  object  of  hatred. 

EuPOLis,  The  Denies  (Bury,  p.  428) 
Men  of  lineage  fair 
And  of  wealthy  estate 
Once  our  generals  were. 
The  noble  and  great, 

Whom  as  gods  we  adored,  and  as  gods  they  guided  and  guarded 
the  state. 

Things  are  not  as  then. 

Ah,  how  different  far 

A  manner  of  men 

Our  new  generals  are. 

The  rascals  and  refuse  our  city  now  chooses  to  lead  us  to  war ! 

"The  Knights,"  produced  in  b.c.  424,  is  full  of  references  to 
these  low-born  demagogues,  some  of  whom  were  honest  enough  but 
most  of  whom  inspired  little  respect  among  the  populace  in  spite 
of  their  efforts  to  ingratiate  themselves.  Aristophanes  gives  us  a 
highly  coloured  characterization  of  these  gentry.  In  the  play  we 
have  the  generals  Demosthenes  (not  the  orator),  a  man  of  marked 
ability,  and  Nicias,  whose  worst  fault  was  his  lack  of  self-confidence, 
both  of  whom  belonged  to  the  older  regime,  when  the  state  was 
ruled  by  tried  statesmen.  The  Paphlagonian,  a  wild  barbarian,  is 
Cleon  the  tanner,  who  claims  to  be  the  devoted  friend  of  Demus  (or 
the  people),  but  who  is  supplanted  by  the  Sausage-Seller.  In  the 
end  Demus  is  heartily  ashamed  of  having  been  so  taken  in  by  Cleon. 

3.  CLEON 
Aristophanes,  Knights,  125-149 

Demosthenes.  O  villainous  Paphlagon,  this  it  was  you  feared. 
This  oracle  about  yourself  ! 

Nicias.  What  is  it  t 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  329 

Dem.    Herein  is  written  how  himself  shall  perish. 

Nic.    How  shall  he  ? 

Dem.  How  ?    The  oracle  says  straight  out, 

That  first  of  all  there  comes  an  oakum-seller 
Who  first  shall  manage  all  the  State's  affairs. 

Nic.    One  something-seller  ;  well,  what  follows,  pray  ? 

Dem.    Next  after  him  there  comes  a  sheep-seller. 

Nic.    Two  something-sellers  ;  what 's  this  seller's  fortune  ? 

Dem.    He  '11  hold  the  reins,  till  some  more  villainous  rogue 
Arise  than  he  ;  and  thereupon  he  '11  perish. 
Then  follows  Paphlagon,  our  leather-seller, 
Thief,  brawler,  roaring  as  Cycloborus  roars. 

Nic.    The  leather-seller,  then,  shall  overthrow 
The  sheep-seller. 

Dem.  He  shall. 

Nic  O  wretched  me, 

Is  there  no  other  something-seller  left .'' 

Dem.    There  is  yet  one  ;  a  wondrous  trade  Jic  has. 

Nic.    What,  I  beseech  you  .-' 

Dem.  Shall  I  tell  you .? 

Nic  Aye. 

Dem.    a  sausage-seller  ousts  the  leather-seller. 

Nic  <A  sausage-seller  !    Goodness,  what  a  trade  ! 
Wherever  shall  we  find  one  } 

Dem.  That 's  the  question. 

Nic    Why  here  comes  one,  'tis  providential  surely. 
Bound  for  the  agora. 

Dem.  Hi,  come  hither  !    here  ! 

You  dearest  man,  you  blessed  sausage-seller ! 
Arise,  a  Saviour  to  the  State  and  us. 

Aristophanes,  Knights,  1 91-193 

Demosthenes.    To  be  a  Demus-leader  is  not  now 
For  lettered  men,  nor  yet  for  honest  men, 
But  for  the  base  and  ignorant. 


330  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Aristophanes,  Knights,  1 1  lo-i  1 19 

Chorus.    Proud,  O  Demus,  thy  sway. 
Thee,  as  Tyrant  and  King, 
All  men  fear  and  obey. 
Yet,  O  yet,  't  is  a  thing 
Easy,  to  lead  thee  astray. 
Empty  fawning  and  praise 
Pleased  thou  art  to  receive ; 
All  each  orator  says 
Sure  at  once  to  believe  ; 
Wit  thou  hast,  but  't  is  roaming ; 
Ne'er  we  find  it  its  home  in. 

Aristophanes,  Knights,  713-715 

Paphlagon.   .  .  . 
But  I  can  fool  him  to  my  heart's  content. 

Sausage-Seller.    How  sure  you  see  that  Demus  is  your  own  ! 

Paph.    Because  I  know  the  tit-bits  he  prefers. 

Aristophanes,  Knights,  733-743 

Demus.    And  who  are  you  .■' 

Sausage-Seller.  A  rival  for  your  love. 

Long  have  I  loved,  and  sought  to  do  you  good, 
With  many  another  honest  gentleman, 
But  Paphlagon  won't  let  us.    You  yourself, 
Excuse  me  sir,  are  like  the  boys  with  lovers. 
The  honest  gentlemen  you  won't  accept. 
Yet  give  yourself  to  lantern-selling  chaps, 
To  sinew-stitchers,  cobblers,  aye  and  tanners. 

Paph,    Because  I  am  good  to  Demus. 

Sausage-Seller.  Tell  me  how. 

Paph.    'T  was  I  slipped  in  before  the  general  there 
And  sailed  to  Pylus,  and  brought  the  Spartans. 

Aristophanes,  Knights,  1355-1363 

Demus.    I  am  ashamed  of  all  my  former  faults. 
Sausage-Seller.    You  're  not  to  blame ;  pray  don't  imagine 
that. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  331 

'T  was  they  who  tricked  you  so.    But  answer  this ; 

If  any  scurvy  advocate  should  say, 

Nozv  please  remember,  jitstiees,  ye  'II  have 

No  barley,  if  the  prisoner  gets  off  free. 

How  would  you  treat  that  scurvy  advocate  ? 

Demus.    I  'd  tie  Hyperbolus  about  his  neck, 
And  hurl  him  down  into  the  Deadman's  Pit. 

Sausage-Seller.  Why  now  you  are  speaking  sensibly  and  well. 

Aristophanes,  Knights^  13SS-1396 

Sausage-Seller.    I  think  you  '11  think  so  when  you  get  the 
sweet 
Thirty-year  treaties.    Treaties  dear,  come  here. 

Demus.    Worshipful  Zeus  !  how  beautiful  they  are. 
Would  n't  I  like  to  solemnize  them  all. 
Whence  got  you  these  } 

Sausage-Seller.         Why,  had  not  Paphlagon 
Bottled  them  up  that  you  might  never  see  them  ? 
Now  then  I  freely  give  you  them  to  take 
Back  to  your  farms,  with  you. 

Aristophanes,  Knights,  973-996 

Chorus.    O  bright  and  joyous  day, 

0  day  most  sweet  to  all 
Both  near  and  far  away, 
The  day  of  Cleon's  fall. 
Yet  in  our  Action-mart 

1  overheard  by  chance 
Some  ancient  sires  and  tart 
This  counter-plea  advance, 
That  but  for  him  the  State 

Two  things  had  ne'er  possessed  :  — 
A  STiRRER-up  of  hate, 
A  PESTLE  of  unrest. 
His  swine-bred  music  we 
With  wondering  hearts  admire  ; 
At  school,  his  mates  agree, 


332  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

He  always  tuned  his  lyre 
In  Dorian  style  to  play. 
His  master  wrathful  grew  ; 
He  sent  the  boy  away, 
And  this  conclusion  drew, 
TJiis  boy  fro7n  all  Jus  friends 
Donations  seeks  to  zvile, 
His  art  begins  and  ends 
In  Do)io-do-7'ian  style. 

4.  NICIAS 
A  contrast  to  the  boisterous  violent  Cleon  is  Nicias,  the  digni- 
fied, very  religious,  timid  man,  who  also  was  ridiculed  by  the  comic 
writers  of  his  day. 

Plutarch,  Nicias,  6 

Nicias  declined  all  difficult  and  lengthy  enterprises  ;  if  he  took 
a  command,  he  was  for  doing  what  was  safe  ;  and  if,  as  thus  was 
likely,  he  had  for  the  most  part  success,  he  did  not  attribute  it  to 
any  wisdom,  conduct,  or  courage  of  his  own,  but,  to  avoid  envy, 
he  thanked  fortune  for  all,  and  gave  the  glory  to  the  divine  powers. 
And  the  actions  themselves  bore  testimony  in  his  favour ;  the  city 
met  at  that  time  with  several  considerable  reverses,  but  he  had  not 
a  hand  in  any  of  them.  The  Athenians  were  routed  in  Thrace  by 
the  Chalcidians,  Calliades  and  Xenophon  commanding  in  chief. 
Demosthenes  was  the  general  when  they  were  unfortunate  in 
yEtolia.  At  Delium  they  lost  a  thousand  citizens  under  the  con- 
duct of  Hippocrates  ;  the  plague  was  principally  laid  to  the  charge 
of  Pericles,  he,  to  carry  on  the  war,  having  shut  up  close  together 
in  the  town  the  crowd  of  people  from  the  country  who,  by  the 
change  of  place,  and  of  their  usual  course  of  living,  bred  the  pesti- 
lence. Nicias  stood  clear  of  all  this  ;  under  his  conduct  was  taken 
Cythera,  an  island  most  commodious  against  Laconia,  and  occupied 
by  the  Lacedaemonian  settlers ;  many  places,  likewise,  in  Thrace, 
which  had  revolted,  were  taken  or  won  over  by  him  ;  he  shutting 
up  the  Megarians  within  their  town,  seized  upon-  the  isle  of  Minoa  ; 
and  soon  after,  advancing  from  thence  to  Nisaea,  made  himself 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  333 

master  there,  and  then  making  a  descent  upon  the  Corinthian  terri- 
tory, fought  a  successful  battle,  and  slew  a  great  number  of  the 
Corinthians  with  their  captain  Lycophron.  There  it  happened  that 
two  of  his  men  were  left  by  an  oversight,  when  they  carried  off  the 
dead,  which  when  he  understood,  he  stopped  the  fleet,  and  sent 
a  herald  to  the  enemy  for  leave  to  carry  off  the  dead ;  though  by 
law  and  custom,  he  that  by  a  truce  craved  leave  to  carry  off  the 
dead  was  hereby  supposed  to  give  up  all  claim  to  the  victory. 
Nor  was  it  lawful  for  him  that  did  this  to  erect  a  trophy,  for  his 
is  the  victory  who  is  master  of  the  field,  and  he  is  not  master  who 
asks  leave,  as  wanting  power  to  take.  But  he  chose  rather  to  re- 
nounce his  victory  and  his  glory  than  to  let  two  citizens  lie  unburied. 
He  scoured  the  coast  of  Laconia  all  along,  and  beat  the  Lace- 
daemonians that  made  head  against  him.  He  took  Thyrea,  occupied 
by  the  ^ginetans,  and  carried  the  prisoners  to  Athens. 

Plutarch,  iViaas,  3 

Neither  had  he  the  nimble  wit  of  Cleon  to  win  the  Athenians 
to  his  purposes  by  amusing  them  with  bold  jests  ;  unprovided  with 
such  qualities,  he  courted  them  with  dramatic  exhibitions,  gym- 
nastic games,  and  other  public  shows,  more  sumptuous  and  more 
splendid  than  had  been  ever  known  in  his  or  in  former  ages. 
Amongst  his  religious  offerings,  there  was  extant,  even  in  our  days, 
the  small  figure  of  Athena  in  the  citadel,  having  lost  the  gold 
that  covered  it ;  and  a  shrine  in  the  temple  of  Dionysus,  under  the 
tripods,  that  were  presented  by  those  who  won  the  prize  in  the 
shows  or  plays.  For  at  these  he  had  often  carried  off  the  prize,  and 
never  once  failed.  .  .  .  His  performances  at  Delos  are,  also,  on 
record,  as  noble  and  magnificent  works  of  devotion.  For  whereas 
the  choruses  which  the  cities  sent  to  sing  hymns  to  the  god  were 
wont  to  arrive  in  no  order,  as  it  might  happen,  and,  being  there  met 
by  a  crowd  of  people  crying  out  to  them  to  sing,  in  their  hurry  to 
begin,  used  to  disembark  confusedly,  putting  on  their  garlands,  and 
changing  their  dresses  as  they  left  the  ships,  he,  when  he  had  to 
convoy  the  sacred  company,  disembarked  the  chorus  at  Rhenea, 
together  with  the  sacrifice,  and  other  holy  appurtenances.  And 
having  brought  along  with  him  from  Athens  a  bridge  fitted  by 


334  READINGS   IN  GREPZK  HISTORY 

measurement  for  the  purpose,  and  magnificently  adorned  with 
gilding  and  colouring,  and  with  garlands  and  tapestries  :  this  he 
laid  in  the  night  over  the  channel  betwixt  Rhenea  and  Delos,  being 
no  great  distance.  And  at  break  of  day  he  marched  forth  with  all 
the  procession  to  the  god,  and  led  the  chorus,  sumptuously  orna- 
mented, and  singing  their  hymns,  along  over  the  bridge.  The 
sacrifices,  the  games,  and  the  feast  being  over,  he  set  up  a  palm- 
tree  of  brass  for  a  present  to  the  god,  and  bought  a  parcel  of  land 
with  ten  thousand  drachmas  which  he  consecrated  ;  with  the  rev- 
enue the  inhabitants  of  Delos  were  to  sacrifice  and  to  feast,  and  to 
pray  the  gods  for  many  good  things  to  Nicias,  This  he  engraved 
on  a  pillar,  which  he  left  in  Delos  to  be  a  record  of  his  bequest. 
This  same  palm-tree,  afterwards  broken  down  by  the  wind,  fell  on 
the  great  statue  which  the  men  of  Naxos  presented,  and  struck  it 
to  the  ground. 

Plutarch,  Nicias,  4 

For  he  was  one  of  those  who  dreaded  the  divine  powers  ex- 
tremely, and,  as  Thucydides  tells  us,  was  much  given  to  arts  of 
divination,  ...  In  short,  his  timidity  was  a  revenue  to  rogues, 
and  his  humanity  to  honest  men.  We  find  testimony  in  the  comic 
writers,  as  when  Teleclides,  speaking  of  one  of  the  professed 
informers,  says  :  — 

Charicles  gave  the  man  a  pound,  the  matter  not  to  name, 
That  from  inside  a  money-bag  into  the  world  he  came ; 
And  Nicias,  also,  paid  him  four ;  I  know  the  reason  well, 
But  Nicias  is  a  worthy  man,  and  so  I  will  not  tell. 

So,  also,  the  informer  whom  Eupolis  introduces  in  his  Maricas, 
attacking  a  good,  simple,  poor  man  :  — 

How  long  ago  did  you  and  Nicias  meet  ? 
I  did  but  see  him  just  now  in  the  street. 

The  man  has  seen  him  and  denies  it  not, 
'T  is  evident  that  they  are  in  a  plot. 

See  you,  O  citizens  !  't  is  fact, 
Nicias  is  taken  in  the  act. 

Taken,  Fools  !  take  so  good  a  man 

In  aught  that 's  wrong  none  will  or  can. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  335 

Cleon,  in  Aristophanes,  makes  it  one  of  his  threats  :  — 
I  '11  outscream  all  the  speakers,  and  make  Nicias  stand  aghast. 

Phrynichus  also  impHes  his  want  of  spirit  and  his  easiness  to  be 
intimidated  in  the  verses  — 

A  noble  man  he  was,  I  well  can  say, 

Nor  walked  like  Nicias,  cowering  on  his  way. 

Plutarch,  Niaas,  8 

Aristophanes  has  a  jest  against  him  on  this  occasion  in  the 

Birds  :  — 

Indeed,  not  now  the  word  that  must  be  said 
Is,  do  like  Nicias,  or  retire  to  bed. 

And,  again,  in  his  Husbandmen  :  — 

I  wish  to  stay  at  home  and  farm, 
What  then .? 
Who  should  prevent  you  ? 

You,  my  countrymen ; 
Whom  I  would  pay  a  thousand  drachmas  down, 
To  let  me  give  up  office  and  leave  town. 
Enough  ;  content ;  the  sum  two  thousand  is. 
With  those  that  Nicias  paid  to  give  up  his. 

5.  THE   REVOLT  OF  MITVLENE 

The  revolt  of  Mitylene  and  its  suppression  shows  the  Athenians 
in  a  most  unenviable  light.  Through  the  violence  of  Cleon  they 
were  persuaded  to  a  deed  of  horrible  butchery,  but  repented  just 
in  time  to  send  a  second  expedition  to  stop  it. 

Although  the  population  was  not  annihilated  Mitylene  was  most 
severely  treated.  The  inscription  dealing  with  the  expedition  is 
too  fragmentary  to  be  of  much  service,  but  we  have  some  informa- 
tion about  the  cleruchy  of  Athenians  which  was  established  there. 

T/iiicydides,  III,  36 

Arrived  at  Mitylene,  Paches  reduced  Pyrrha  and  Eresus  ;  and 
finding  the  Lacedaemonian,  Salsethus,  in  hiding  in  the  town,  sent 
him  off  to  Athens,  together  with  the  Mitylenians  that  he  had  placed 


336  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

in  Tenedos,  and  any  other  persons  that  he  thought  concerned  in 
the  revolt.  He  also  sent  back  the  greater  part  of  his  forces,  re- 
maining with  the  rest  to  settle  Mitylene  and  the  rest  of  Lesbos 
as  he  thought  best. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  prisoners  with  Salsethus,  the  Athenians 
at  once  put  the  latter  to  death,  although  he  offered,  among  other 
things,  to  procure  the  withdrawal  of  the  Peloponnesians  from 
Plataea,  which  was  still  under  siege ;  and  after  deliberating  as  to 
what  they  should  do  with  the  former,  in  the  fury  of  the  moment 
determined  to  put  to  death  not  only  the  prisoners  at  Athens,  but 
the  whole  adult  male  population  of  Mitylene,  and  to  make  slaves 
of  the  women  and  children.  It  was  remarked  that  Mitylene  had 
revolted  without  being,  like  the  rest,  subjected  to  the  empire  ;  and 
what  above  all  swelled  the  wrath  of  the  Athenians  was  the  fact  of 
the  Peloponnesian  fleet  having  ventured  over  to  Ionia  to  her  sup- 
port, a  fact  which  was  held  to  argue  a  long  meditated  rebellion. 
They  accordingly  sent  a  galley  to  communicate  the  decree  to 
Paches,  commanding  him  to  lose  no  time  in  despatching  the  Mity- 
lenians.  The  morrow  brought  repentance  with  it  and  reflexion  on 
the  horrid  cruelty  of  a  decree,  which  condemned  a  whole  city  to 
the  fate  merited  only  by  the  guilty.  This  was  no  sooner  perceived 
by  the  Mitylenian  ambassadors  at  Athens  and  their  Athenian  sup- 
porters, than  they  moved  the  authorities  to  put  the  question  again 
to  the  vote  ;  which  they  the  more  easily  consented  to  do,  as  they 
themselves  plainly  saw  that  most  of  the  citizens  wished  some  one 
to  give  them  an  opportunity  for  reconsidering  the  matter.  An  as- 
sembly was  therefore  at  once  called,  and  after  much  expression  of 
opinion  upon  both  sides,  Cleon,  son  of  Cleaenetus,  the  same  who 
had  carried  the  former  motion  of  putting  the  Mitylenians  to  death, 
the  most  violent  man  at  Athens,  and  at  that  time  by  far  the  most 
powerful  with  the  commons,  came  forward  again  and  spoke  as 
follows  :  .  .  . 

Thiicydides,  III,  40 

"  No  hope,  therefore,  that  rhetoric  may  instil  or  money  purchase, 
of  the  mercy  due  to  human  infirmity  must  be  held  out  to  the  Mity- 
lenians.   Their  offence  was  not  involuntary,  but  of  malice  and 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  337 

deliberate  ;  and  mercy  is  only  for  unwilling  offenders.  I  therefore 
now  as  before  persist  against  your  reversing  your  first  decision,  or 
giving  way  to  the  three  failings  most  fatal  to  empire  —  pity,  senti- 
ment, and  indulgence.  Compassion  is  due  to  those  who  can  re- 
ciprocate the  feeling,  not  to  those  who  will  never  pity  us  in  return, 
but  are  our  natural  and  necessary  foes  :  the  orators  who  charm  us 
with  sentiment  may  find  other  less  important  arenas  for  their  talents, 
in  the  place  of  one  where  the  city  pays  a  heavy  penalty  for  a  mo- 
mentary pleasure,  themselves  receiving  fine  acknowledgments  for 
their  fine  phrases  ;  while  indulgence  should  be  shown  towards 
those  who  will  be  our  friends  in  future,  instead  of  towards  men 
who  will  remain  just  what  they  were,  and  as  much  our  enemies  as 
before.  To  sum  up  shortly,  I  say  that  if  you  follow  my  advice  you 
will  do  what  is  just  towards  the  Mitylenians,  and  at  the  same  time 
expedient ;  while  by  a  different  decision  you  will  not  oblige  them 
so  much  as  pass  sentence  upon  yourselves.  For  if  they  were  right 
in  rebelling,  you  must  be  wrong  in  ruling.  However,  if,  right  or 
wrong,  you  determine  to  rule,  you  must  carry  out  your  principle 
and  punish  the  Mitylenians  as  your  interest  requires  ;  or  else  you 
must  give  up  your  empire  and  cultivate  honesty  without  danger. 
Make  up  your  minds,  therefore,  to  give  them  like  for  like  ;  and  do 
not  let  the  victims  who  escaped  the  plot  be  more  insensible  than 
the  conspirators  who  hatched  it ;  but  reflect  what  they  would  have 
done  if  victorious  over  you,  especially  as  they  were  the  aggressors. 
It  is  they  who  wrong  their  neighbour  without  a  cause,  that  pursue 
their  victim  to  the  death,  on  account  of  the  danger  which  they  fore- 
see in  letting  their  enemy  survive  ;  since  the  object  of  a  wanton 
wrong  is  more  dangerous,  if  he  escape,  than  an  enemy  who  has 
not  this  to  complain  of.  Do  not,  therefore,  be  traitors  to  your- 
selves, but  recall  as  nearly  as  possible  the  moment  of  suffering 
and  the  supreme  importance  which  you  then  attached  to  their  re- 
duction ;  and  now  pay  them  back  in  their  turn,  without  yielding 
to  present  weakness  or  forgetting  the  peril  that  once  hung  over 
you.  Punish  them  as  they  deserve,  and  teach  your  other  allies  by 
a  striking  example  that  the  penalty  of  rebellion  is  death.  Let  them 
once  understand  this  and  you  will  not  have  so  often  to  neglect  your 
enemies  while  you  are  fighting  with  your  own  confederates." 


33^  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Thiicydides,  III,  47-50 

"  Only  consider  what  a  blunder  you  would  commit  in  doing  as 
Cleon  recommends.  As  things  are  at  present,  in  all  the  cities  the 
people  is  your  friend,  and  either  does  not  revolt  with  the  oligarchy, 
or,  if  forced  to  do  so,  becomes  at  once  the  enemy  of  the  insur- 
gents ;  so  that  in  the  war  with  the  hostile  city  you  have  the  masses 
on  your  side.  But  if  you  butcher  the  people  of  Mitylene,  who  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  revolt,  and  who,  as  soon  as  they  got  arms, 
of  their  own  motion  surrendered  the  town,  first  you  will  commit 
the  crime  of  killing  your  benefactors  ;  and  next  you  will  play 
directly  into  the  hands  of  the  higher  classes,  who  when  they  in- 
duce their  cities  to  rise,  will  immediately  have  the  people  on  their 
side,  through  your  having  announced  in  advance  the  same  punish- 
ment for  those  who  are  guilty  and  for  those  who  are  not.  On  the 
contrary,  even  if  they  were  guilty,  you  ought  to  seem  not  to  notice 
it,  in  order  to  avoid  alienating  the  only  class  still  friendly  to  us. 
In  short,  I  consider  it  far  more  useful  for  the  preservation  of  our 
empire  voluntarily  to  put  up  with  injustice,  than  to  put  to  death, 
however  justly,  those  whom  it  is  our  interest  to  keep  alive.  As  for 
Cleon's  idea  that  in  punishment  the  claims  of  justice  and  expedi- 
ency can  both  be  satisfied,  facts  do  not  confirm  the  possibility  of 
such  a  combination. 

"  Confess,  therefore,  that  this  is  the  wisest  course,  and  without 
conceding  too  much  either  to  pity  or  to  indulgence,  by  neither  of 
which  motives  do  I  any  more  than  Cleon  wish  you  to  be  influenced, 
upon  the  plain  merits  of  the  case  before  you,  be  persuaded  by  me 
to  try  calmly  those  of  the  Mitylenians  whom  Paches  sent  off  as 
guilty,  and  to  leave  the  rest  undisturbed.  This  is  at  once  best  for 
the  future,  and  most  terrible  to  your  enemies  at  the  present  moment ; 
inasmuch  as  good  policy  against  an  adversary  is  superior  to  the 
blind  attacks  of  brute  force." 

Such  were  the  words  of  Diodotus.  The  two  opinions  thus  ex- 
pressed were  the  ones  that  most  directly  contradicted  each  other ; 
and  the  Athenians,  notwithstanding  their  change  of  feeling,  now 
proceeded  to  a  division,  in  which  the  show  of  hands  was  almost 
equal,  although  the  motion  of  Diodotus  carried  the  day.  Another 
galley  was  at  once  sent  off  in  haste,  for  fear  that  the  first  might 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  339 

reach  Lesbos  in  the  intcr\-a],  and  the  city  be  found  destroyed  ;  the 
first  ship  having  about  a  day  and  a  night's  start.  Wine  and  barley- 
cakes  were  provided  for  the  vessel  by  the  Mitylenian  ambassadors, 
and  great  promises  made  if  they  arrived  in  time  ;  which  caused  the 
men  to  use  such  diligence  upon  the  voyage  that  they  took  their 
meals  of  barley-cakes  kneaded  with  oil  and  wine  as  they  rowed, 
and  only  slept  by  turns  while  the  others  were  at  the  oar.  Luckily 
they  met  with  no  contrary  wind,  and  the  first  ship  making  no  haste 
upon  so  horrid  an  errand,  while  the  second  pressed  on  in  the 
manner  described,  the  first  arrived  so  little  before  them,  that  Paches 
had  only  just  had  time  to  read  the  decree,  and  to  prepare  to  exe- 
cute the  sentence,  when  the  second  put  into  port  and  prevented  the 
massacre.    The  danger  of  Mitylene  had  indeed  been  great. 

The  other  party  whom  Paches  had  sent  off  as  the  prime  movers 
in  the  rebellion,  were  upon  Cleon's  motion  put  to  death  by  the 
Athenians,  the  number  being  rather  more  than  a  thousand.  The 
Athenians  also  demolished  the  walls  of  the  Mitylenians,  and  took 
possession  of  their  ships.  Afterwards  tribute  was  not  imposed  upon 
the  Lesbians  ;  but  all  their  land,  except  that  of  the  Methymnians, 
was  divided  into  three  thousand  allotments,  three  hundred  of  which 
were  reserved  as  sacred  for  the  gods,  and  the  rest  assigned  by  lot 
to  Athenian  shareholders,  who  were  sent  out  to  the  island.  With 
these  the  Lesbians  agreed  to  pay  a  rent  of  two  minae  a  year  for 
each  allotment,  and  cultivated  the  land  themselves.  The  Athenians 
also  took  possession  of  the  towns  on  the  continent  belonging  to 
the  Mitylenians,  which  thus  became  for  the  future  subject  to  Athens. 
Such  were  the  events  that  took  place  at  Lesbos. 

Hicks  and  Hili,  6i 

Athenian  Cleruchy  in  Lesbos,  b.c.  427 

.  .  ,  the  Athenians  order  .  .  .  submitting  their  cases  to  be  tried 
before  the  overseers  of  the  Athenians  according  to  the  compacts 
made  with  the  Mitylenians  [before  the  revolt].  And  the  Mitylenian 
tenants  are  to  pay  back  to  the  cleruchs  whatever  was  sold  that  was 
on  the  field  before  the  land  was  given  to  them  by  the  generals  and 
the  soldiers. 


340  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

The  secretary  of  the  senate  is  to  inscribe  this  on  a  stone  slab 
and  set  it  up  on  tlie  Acropolis,  and  the  Mitylenians  (?)  are  to  pay 
for  it  .  .  .  this  is  to  be  inscribed  and  the  embassy  of  the  Mity- 
lenians is  to  be  entertained  in  the  Prytaneum  to-morrow.  .  .  . 

6.  PYLOS 

The  affair  at  Pylos  was  the  first  great  success  for  the  Athenians. 
There  had  been  a  long  siege  and  counter-siege,  and  things  were 
dragging  on  so  that  the  Athenians  were  in  great  need  of  reenforce- 
ments,  when  Cleon  began  to  boast  about  what  he  would  do  if  in 
command,  Thucydides  says  they  were  glad  to  send  him  and  get 
rid  of  him ;  but  in  any  case,  when  reenforcements  arrived  the  Athe- 
nians made  a  supreme  effort  and  took  a  large  number  of  Spartans 
prisoners  —  the  first  time  it  had  ever  occurred. 

Thucydides^  IV,  2-3 

About  the  same  time  in  the  spring,  before  the  corn  was  ripe, 
the  Peloponnesians  and  their  allies  invaded  Attica  under  Agis,  the 
son  of  Archidamus,  king  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  sat  down  and 
laid  waste  the  country.  Meanwhile  the  Athenians  sent  off  the  forty 
ships  which  they  had  been  preparing  to  Sicily,  with  the  remaining 
generals  Eurymedon  and  Sophocles  ;  their  colleague  Pythodorus 
having  already  preceded  them  thither.  These  had  also  instructions 
as  they  sailed  by  to  look  to  the  Corcyraeans  in  the  town,  who  were 
being  plundered  by  the  exiles  in  the  mountain.  To  support  these 
exiles  sixty  Peloponnesian  vessels  had  lately  sailed,  it  being  thought 
that  the  famine  raging  in  the  city  would  make  it  easy  for  them  to 
reduce  it.  Demosthenes  also,  who  had  remained  without  employ- 
ment since  his  return  from  Acarnania,  applied  and  obtained  permis- 
sion to  use  the  fleet,  if  he  wished  it,  upon  the  coast  of  Peloponnese. 

Off  Laconia  they  heard  that  the  Peloponnesian  ships  were 
already  at  Corcyra,  upon  which  Eurymedon  and  Sophocles  wished 
to  hasten  to  the  island,  but  Demosthenes  required  them  first  to 
touch  at  Pylos  and  do  what  was  wanted  there,  before  continuing 
their  voyage.  While  they  were  making  objections,  a  squall  chanced 
to  come  on  and  carried  the  fleet  into  Pylos.    Demosthenes  at  once 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  341 

urged  them  to  fortify  the  place,  it  being  for  this  that  he  had  come 
on  the  voyage,  and  made  them  observe  there  was  plenty  of  stone 
and  timber  on  the  spot,  and  that  the  place  was  strong  by  nature, 
and  together  with  much  of  the  country  round  unoccupied ;  Pylos, 
or  Coryphasium,  as  the  Lacedaemonians  call  it,  being  about  forty- 
five  miles  distant  from  Sparta,  and  situated  in  the  old  country  of 
the  Messenians.  The  commanders  told  him  that  there  was  no  lack 
of  desert  headlands  in  Peloponnese  if  he  wished  to  put  the  city  to 
expense  by  occupying  them.  He,  however,  thought  that  this  place 
was  distinguished  from  others  of  the  kind  by  having  a  harbour 
close  by ;  while  the  Messenians,  the  old  natives  of  the  country, 
speaking  the  same  dialect  as  the  Lacedaemonians,  could  do  them 
the  greatest  mischief  by  their  incursions  from  it,  and  would  at  the 
same  time  be  a  trusty  garrison. 

Tliiicydides,  IV,  8-9 

On  the  return  of  the  Peloponnesians  from  Attica  the  Spartans 
themselves  and  the  nearest  of  the  Perioeci  at  once  set  out  for 
Pylos,  the  other  Lacedaemonians  following  more  slowly  as  they 
had  just  come  in  from  another  campaign.  Word  was  also  sent 
round  Peloponnese  to  come  up  as  quickly  as  possible  to  Pylos ; 
while  the  sixty  Peloponnesian  ships  were  sent  for  from  'Corcyra 
and  being  dragged  by  their  crews  across  the  isthmus  of  Leucas, 
passed  unperceived  by  the  Athenian  squadron  at  Zacynthus,  and 
reached  Pylos,  where  the  land  forces  had  arrived  before  them. 
Before  the  Peloponnesian  fleet  sailed  in,  Demosthenes  found  time 
to  send  out  unobserved  two  ships  to  inform  Eurymedon  and  the 
Athenians  on  board  the  fleet  at  Zacynthus  of  the  danger  of  Pylos 
and  to  summon  them  to  his  assistance.  While  the  ships  hastened 
on  their  voyage  in  obedience  to  the  orders  of  Demosthenes,  the 
Lacedaemonians  prepared  to  assault  the  fort  by  land  and  sea,  hop- 
ing to  capture  with  ease  a  work  constructed  in  haste,  and  held  by 
a  feeble  garrison.  Meanwhile,  as  they  expected  the  Athenian  ships 
to  arrive  from  Zacynthus,  they  intended,  if  they  failed  to  take  the 
place  before,  to  block  up  the  entrances  of  the  harbour  to  prevent 
their  being  able  to  anchor  inside  it.  For  the  island  of  Sphacteria, 
stretching  along  in  a  line  close  in  front  of  the  harbour,  at  once 


342  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

makes  it  safe  and  narrows  its  entrances,  leaving  a  passage  for  two 
ships  on  the  side  nearest  Pylos  and  the  Athenian  fortifications, 
and  for  eight  or  nine  on  that  next  the  rest  of  the  mainland  :  for 
the  rest,  the  island  was  entirely  covered  with  wood,  and  without 
paths  through  not  being  inhabited,  and  about  one  mile  and  five 
furlongs  in  length.  The  inlets  the  Lacedaemonians  meant  to  close 
with  a  line  of  ships  placed  close  together,  with  their  prows  turned 
towards  the  sea,  and,  meanwhile,  fearing  that  the  enemy  might 
make  use  of  the  island  to  operate  against  them,  carried  over  some 
heavy  infantry  thither,  stationing  others  along  the  coast.  By  this 
means  the  island  and  the  continent  would  be  alike  hostile  to  the 
Athenians,  as  they  would  be  unable  to  land  on  either ;  and  the 
shore  of  Pylos  itself  outside  the  inlet  towards  the  open  sea  having 
no  harbour,  and,  therefore,  presenting  no  point  which  they  could 
use  as  a  base  to  relieve  their  countrymen,  they,  the  Lacedaemonians, 
without  sea-fight  or  risk  would  in  all  probability  become  masters 
of  the  place,  occupied,  as  it  had  been  on  the  spur  of  the  moment, 
and  unfurnished  with  provisions.  This  being  determined,  they  car- 
ried over  to  the  island  the  heavy  infantry,  drafted  by  lot  from  all 
the  companies.  Some  others  had  crossed  over  before  in  relief 
parties,  but  these  last  who  were  left  there  were  four  hundred  and 
twenty  in  number,  with  their  Helot  attendants,  commanded  by 
Epitadas,  son  of  Molobrus. 

Meanwhile  Demosthenes,  seeing  the  Lacedgemonians  about  to 
attack  him  by  sea  and  land  at  once,  himself  was  not  idle.  He  drew 
up  under  the  fortification  and  enclosed  in  a  stockade  the  galleys 
remaining  to  him  of  those  which  had  been  left  him,  arming  the 
sailors  taken  out  of  them  with  poor  shields  made  most  of  them  of 
osier,  it  being  impossible  to  procure  arms  in  such  a  desert  place, 
and  even  these  having  been  obtained  from  a  thirty-oared  Mes- 
senian  privateer  and  a  boat  belonging  to  some  Messenians  who 
happened  to  have  come  to  them.  Among  these  Messenians  were 
forty  heavy  infantry,  whom  he  made  use  of  with  the  rest.  Posting 
most  of  his  men,  unarmed  and  armed,  upon  the  best  fortified  and 
strong  points  of  the  place  towards  the  interior,  with  orders  to  repel 
any  attack  of  the  land  forces,  he  picked  sixty  heavy  infantry  and  a 
few  archers  from  his  whole  force,  and  with  these  went  outside  the 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  343 

wall  down  to  the  sea,  where  he  thought  that  the  enemy  would  most 
likely  attempt  to  land.  Although  the  ground  was  difficult  and  rocky, 
looking  towards  the  open  sea,  the  fact  that  this  was  the  weakest 
part  of  the  wall  would,  he  thought,  encourage  their  ardour,  as  the 
Athenians,  confident  in  their  naval  superiority,  had  here  paid  little 
attention  to  their  defences,  and  the  enemy  if  he  could  force  a  land- 
ing might  feel  secure  of  taking  the  place.  At  this  point,  accord- 
ingly, going  down  to  the  water's  edge,  he  posted  his  heavy  infantry 
to  prevent,  if  possible,  a  landing,  and  encouraged  them.  .  .  . 

Thucydides,  IV,  21 

Such  were  the  words  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  their  idea  being 
that  the  Athenians,  already  desirous  of  a  truce  and  only  kept  back 
by  their  opposition,  would  joyfully  accept  a  peace  freely  offered, 
and  give  back  the  men.  The  Athenians,  however,  having  the  men 
on  the  island,  thought  that  the  treaty  would  be  ready  for  them  when- 
ever they  chose  to  make  it,  and  grasped  at  something  further.  Fore- 
most to  encourage  them  in  this  policy  was  Cleon,  son  of  Cleaenetus, 
a  popular  leader  of  the  time  and  very  powerful  with  the  multitude, 
who  persuaded  them  to  answer  as  follows  :  First,  the  men  in  the 
island  must  surrender  themselves  and  their  arms  and  be  brought 
to  Athens.  Next,  the  Lacedaemonians  must  restore  Nisaea,  Pegae, 
Troezen,  and  Achaia,  all  places  acquired  not  by  arms,  but  by  the 
previous  convention,  under  which  they  had  been  ceded  by  Athens 
herself  at  a  moment  of  disaster,  when  a  truce  was  more  necessary 
to  her  than  at  present.  This  done  they  might  take  back  their  men, 
and  make  a  truce  for  as  long  as  both  parties  might  agree. 

Thucydides^  IV,  26-28 

Meanwhile  the  Athenians  at  Pylos  were  still  besieging  the 
Lacedaemonians  in  the  island,  the  Peloponnesian  forces  on  the 
continent  remaining  where  they  were.  The  blockade  was  very 
laborious  for  the  Athenians  from  want  of  food  and  water ;  there 
was  no  spring  except  one  in  the  citadel  of  Pylos  itself,  and  that 
not  a  large  one,  and  most  of  them  were  obliged  to  grub  up  the 
shingle  on  the  sea  beach  and  drink  such  water  as  they  could  find. 
They  also  suffered   from   want  of   room,  being   encamped   in  a 


344  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

narrow  space  ;  and  as  there  was  no  anchorage  for  the  ships,  some 
took  their  meals  on  shore  in  their  turn,  while  the  others  were 
anchored  out  at  sea.  But  their  greatest  discouragement  arose 
from  the  unexpectedly  long  time  which  it  took  to  reduce  a  body 
of  men  shut  up  in  a  desert  island,  with  only  brackish  water  to 
drink,  a  matter  which  they  had  imagined  would  take  them  only  a 
few  days.  The  fact  was,  that  the  Lacedaemonians  had  made 
advertisement  for  volunteers  to  carry  into  the  island  ground  corn, 
wine,  cheese,  and  any  other  food  useful  in  a  siege  ;  high  prices 
being  offered,  and  freedom  promised  to  any  of  the  Helots  who 
should  succeed  in  doing  so.  The  Helots  accordingly  were  most 
forward  to  engage  in  this  risky  traffic,  putting  off  from  this  or  that 
part  of  Peloponnese,  and  running  in  by  night  on  the  seaward  side 
of  the  island.  They  were  best  pleased,  however,  when  they  could 
catch  a  wind  to  carry  them  in.  It  was  more  easy  to  elude  the  look- 
out of  the  galleys,  when  it  blew  from  the  seaward,  as  it  became 
impossible  for  them  to  anchor  round  the  island  ;  while  the  Helots 
had  their  boats  rated  at  their  vahie  in  money,  and  ran  them  ashore, 
without  caring  how  they  landed,  being  sure  to  find  the  soldiers 
waiting  for  them  at  the  landing-places.  But  all  who  risked  it  in 
fair  weather  were  taken.  Divers  also  swam  in  under  water  from 
the  harbour,  dragging  by  a  cord  in  skins  poppy-seed  mixed  with 
honey,  and  bruised  linseed ;  these  at  first  escaped  notice,  but  after- 
wards a  look-out  was  kept  for  them.  In  short,  both  sides  tried 
every  possible  contrivance,  the  one  to  throw  in  provisions,  and  the 
other  to  prevent  their  introduction. 

At  Athens,  meanwhile,  the  news  that  the  army  was  in  great  dis- 
tress, and  that  corn  found  its  way  in  to  the  men  in  the  island  caused 
no  small  perplexity  ;  and  the  Athenians  began  to  fear  that  winter 
might  come  on  and  find  them  still  engaged  in  the  blockade.  They 
saw  that  the  convoying  of  provisions  round  Peloponnese  would  be 
then  impossible.  The  country  offered  no  resources  in  itself,  and 
even  in  summer  they  could  not  send  round  enough.  The  blockade 
of  a  place  without  harbours  could  no  longer  be  kept  up ;  and  the 
men  would  either  escape  by  the  siege  being  abandoned,  or  would 
watch  for  bad  weather  and  sail  out  in  the  boats  that  brought  in 
their  corn.    What  caused  still  more  alarm  was  the  attitude  of  the 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  345 

Lacedaemonians,  who  must,  it  was  thought  by  the  Athenians,  feel 
themselves  on  strong  ground  not  to  send  them  any  more  envoys ; 
and  they  began  to  repent  having  rejected  the  treaty.  Cleon,  perceiv- 
ing the  disfavour  with  which  he  was  regarded  for  having  stood  in  the 
way  of  the  convention,  now  said  that  their  informants  did  not  speak 
the  truth  ;  and  upon  the  messengers  recommending  them,  if  they 
did  not  believe  them,  to  send  some  commissioners  to  see,  Cleon 
himself  and  Theagenes  were  chosen  by  the  Athenians  as  commis- 
'sioners.  Aware  that  he  would  now  be  obliged  either  to  say  what 
had  been  already  said  by  the  men  whom  he  was  slandering,  or  be 
proved  a  liar  if  he  said  the  contrary,  he  told  the  Athenians,  whom 
he  saw  to  be  not  altogether  disinclined  for  a  fresh  expedition,  that 
instead  of  sending  commissioners  and  wasting  their  time  and  op- 
portunities, if  they  believed  what  was  told  them,  they  ought  to  sail 
against  the  men.  And  pointing  at  Nicias,  son  of  Niceratus,  then 
general,  whom  he  hated,  he  tauntingly  said  that  it  would  be  easy, 
if  they  had  men  for  generals,  to  sail  with  a  force  and  take  those  in 
the  island,  and  that  if  he  had  himself  been  in  command,  he  would 
have  done  it. 

Nicias,  seeing  the  Athenians  murmuring  against  Cleon  for  not 
sailing  now  if  it  seemed  to  him  so  easy,  and  further  seeing  himself 
the  object  of  attack,  told  him  that  for  all  that  the  generals  cared, 
he  might  take  what  force  he  chose  and  make  the  attempt.  At  first 
Cleon  fancied  that  this  resignation  was  merely  a  figure  of  speech, 
and  was  ready  to  go,  but  finding  that  it  was  seriously  meant,  he 
drew  back,  and  said  that  Nicias,  not  he,  was  general,  being  now 
frightened,  and  having  never  supposed  that  Nicias  would  go  so  far 
as  to  retire  in  his  favour.  Nicias,  however,  repeated  his  offer,  and 
resigned  the  command  against  Pylos,  and  called  the  Athenians  to 
witness  that  he  did  so.  And  as  the  multitude  is  wont  to  do,  the 
more  Cleon  shrank  from  the  expedition  and  tried  to  back  out  of 
what  he  had  said,  the  more  they  encouraged  Nicias  to  hand  over 
his  command,  and  clamoured  at  Cleon  to  go.  At  last,  not  know- 
ing how  to  get  out  of  his  words,  he  undertook  the  expedition,  and 
came  forward  and  said  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  the  Lacedaemonians, 
but  would  sail  without  taking  any  one  from  the  city  with  him,  ex- 
cept the  Lemnians  and  Imbrians  that  were  at  Athens,  with  some 


346  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

targeteers  that  had  come  up  from  /Enus,  and  four  hundred  archers 
from  other  quarters.  With  these  and  the  soldiers  at  Pylos,  he  would 
within  twenty  days  either  bring  the  Lacedaemonians  alive,  or  kill 
them  on  the  spot.  The  Athenians  could  not  help  laughing  at  his 
fatuity,  while  sensible  men  comforted  themselves  with  the  reflexion 
that  they  must  gain  in  either  circumstance  ;  either  they  would  be 
rid  of  Cleon,  which  they  rather  hoped,  or  if  disappointed  in  this 
expectation,  would  reduce  the  Lacedaemonians. 

After  he  had  settled  everything  in  the  assembly,  and  the  Athe- 
nians had  voted  him  the  command  of  the  expedition,  lie  chose  as 
his  colleague  Demosthenes,  one  of  the  generals  at  Pylos,  and 
pushed  forward  the  preparations  for  his  voyage. 

Thucydides,  IV,  36,  41 

The  struggle  began  to  seem  endless,  when  the  commander  of 
the  Messenians  came  to  Cleon  and  Demosthenes,  and  told  them 
that  they  were  losing  their  labour  :  but  that  if  they  would  give  him 
some  archers  and  light  troops  to  go  round  on  the  enemy's  rear  by 
a  way  he  would  undertake  to  find,  he  thought  he  could  force  the 
approach.  Upon  receiving  what  he  asked  for,  he  started  from  a 
point  out  of  sight  in  order  not  to  be  seen  by  the  enemy,  and 
creeping  on  wherever  the  precipices  of  the  island  permitted,  and 
where  the  Lacedaemonians,  trusting  to  the  strength  of  the  ground, 
kept  no  guard,  succeeded  after  the  greatest  difficulty  in  getting 
round  without  their  seeing  him,  and  suddenly  appeared  on  the  high 
ground  in  their  rear,  to  the  dismay  of  the  surprised  enemy  and  the 
still  greater  joy  of  his  expectant  friends.  The  Lacedaemonians  thus 
placed  between  two  fires,  and  in  the  same  dilemma,  to  compare 
small  things  with  great,  as  at  Thermopylae,  where  the  defenders 
were  cut  off  through  the  Persians  getting  round  by  the  path, 
being  now  attacked  in  front  and  behind,  began  to  give  way,  and 
overcome  by  the  odds  against  them  and  exhausted  from  want  of 
food,  retreated. 

The  Athenians  were  already  masters  of  the  approaches  when 
Cleon  and  Demosthenes  perceiving  that,  if  the  enemy  gave  way  a 
single  step  further,  they  would  be  destroyed  by  their  soldiery,  put 
a  stop  to  the  battle  and  held  their  men  back  ;  wishing  to  take  the 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  347 

Lacedaemonians  alive  to  Athens,  and  hoping  that  their  stubbornness 
might  relax  on  hearing  the  offer  of  terms,  and  that  they  might 
surrender  and  yield  to  the  present  overwhelming  danger.  Procla- 
mation was  accordingly  made,  to  know  if  they  would  surrender 
themselves  and  their  arms  to  the  Athenians  to  be  dealt  with  at 
their  discretion. 

The  Lacedaemonians  hearing  this  offer,  most  of  them  lowered 
their  shields  and  waved  their  hands  to  show  that  they  accepted 
it.  .  .  . 

Nothing  that  happened  in  the  war  surprised  the  Hellenes  so 
much  as  this.  It  was  the  opinion  that  no  force  or  famine  could 
make  the  Lacedaemonians  give  up  their  arms,  but  that  they  would 
fight  on  as  they  could,  and  die  with  them  in  their  hands  :  indeed 
people  could  scarcely  believe  that  those  who  had  surrended  were  of 
the  same  stuff  as  the  fallen  ;  and  an  Athenian  ally,  who  some  time 
after  insultingly  asked  one  of  the  prisoners  from  the  island  if  those 
that  had  fallen  were  men  of  honour,  received  for  answer  that  the 
atraktos  —  that  is,  the  arrow  —  would  be  worth  a  great  deal  if  it 
could  tell  men  of  honour  from  the  rest ;  in  allusion  to  the  fact 
that  the  killed  were  those  whom  the  stones  and  the  arrows 
happened  to  hit. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  men  the  Athenians  determined  to  keep 
them  in  prison  until  the  peace,  and  if  the  Peloponnesians  invaded 
their  country  in  the  interval,  to  bring  them  out  and  put  them  to 
death.  Meanwhile  the  defence  of  Pylos  was  not  forgotten  ;  the 
Messenians  from  Naupactus  sent  to  their  old  country,  to  which 
Pylos  formerly  belonged,  some  of  the  likeliest  of  their  number,  and 
began  a  series  of  incursions  into  Laconia,  which  their  common 
dialect  rendered  most  destructive.  The  Lacedaemonians,  hitherto 
without  experience  of  incursions  or  a  warfare  of  the  kind,  finding 
the  Helots  deserting,  and  fearing  the  march  of  revolution  in  their 
country,  began  to  be  seriously  uneasy,  and  in  spite  of  their  unwill- 
ingness to  betray  this  to  the  Athenians  began  to  send  envoys  to 
Athens,  and  tried  to  recover  Pylos  and  the  prisoners.  The  Athe- 
nians, however,  kept  grasping  at  more,  and  dismissed  envoy  after 
envoy  without  their  having  effected  anything.  Such  was  the  history 
of  the  affair  of  Pylos. 


348  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Aristophanes,  Knights,  40-60 

Demosthenes.    I  '11  tell  them  now.   We  two  have  got  a  master, 
Demus  of  Pnyx-borough,  such  a  sour  old  man, 
Quick-tempered,  country-minded,  bean-consuming, 
A  trifle  hard  of  hearing.    Last  new  moon 
He  bought  a  slave,  a  tanner,  Paphlagon, 
The  greatest  rogue  and  liar  in  the  world. 
This  tanning-Paphlagon,  he  soon  finds  out 
Master's  weak  points  ;  and  cringing  down  before  him 
Flatters,  and  fawns,  and  wheedles,  and  cajoles, 
With  little  apish  leather-snippings,  thus  ; 

0  Dennis,  try  one  case,  get  the  tJurc-obol, 

Then  take  your  bath,  gorge,  guzzle,  eat  your  fill. 
Would  you  I  set  your  supper?   Then  he  '11  seize 
A  dish  some  other  servant  has  prepared, 
And  serve  it  up  for  master ;  and  quite  lately 

1  'd  baked  a  rich  Laconian  cake  at  Pylus, 
When  in  runs  Paphlagon,  and  bags  my  cake, 
And  serves  it  up  to  Demus  as  his  own. 

But  us  he  drives  away,  and  none  but  he 

Must  wait  on  master ;  there  he  stands  through  dinner 

With  leathern  flap,  and  flicks  away  the  speakers. 

Aristophanes,  Knights,  842-866 

Paphlagon.    O  matters  have  not  come  to  that,  my  very  worthy 
friends  ! 
I  've  done  a  deed,  a  noble  deed,  a  deed  which  so  transcends 
All  other  deeds,  that  all  my  foes  of  speech  are  quite  bereft, 
While  any  shred  of  any  shield,  from  Pylus  brought,  is  left. 

Sausage-Seller.    Halt  at  those  Pylian  shields  of  yours !    a 
lovely  hold  you  're  lending. 
For  if  you  really  Demus  love,  what  meant  you  by  suspending 
Those  shields  with  all  their  handles  on,  for  action  ready  strapped } 
O  Demus,  there  's  a  dark  design  within  those  handles  wrapped. 
And  if  to  punish  him  you  seek,  those  shields  will  bar  the  way. 
You  see  the  throng  of  tanner-lads  he  always  keeps  in  pay. 
And  round  them  dwell  the  folk  who  sell  their  honey  and  their  cheeses ; 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  349 

And  these  are  all  combined  in  one,  to  do  whate'er  he  pleases. 

And  if  the  oyster-shelling  game  you  seem  inclined  to  play, 

They  '11  come  by  night  with  all  their  might  and   snatch   those 

shields  away, 
And  then  with  ease  will  run  and  seize  the  passes  of  —  your  wheat. 
Demus.    Oh,  are  the  handles  really  there  ?    You  rascal,  what 

deceit 
Have  you  so  long  been  practising  that  Demus  you  may  cheat  ? 
Paph,    Pray  don't  be  every  speaker's  gull,  nor  dream  you  '11 

ever  get 
A  better  friend  than  I,  who  all  conspiracies  upset. 
Alone  I  crushed  them  all,  and  now,  if  any  plots  are  brewing 
Within  the  town,  I  scent  them  down,  and  raise  a  grand  hallooing. 
Sausage-Seller.     O  ay,  you  're  like  the  fisher-folk,  the  men 

who  hunt  for  eels. 
Who  when  the  mere  is  still  and  clear  catch  nothing  for  their  creels, 
But  when  they  rout  the  mud  about  and  stir  it  up  and  down, 
'T  is  then  they  do ;  and  so  do  you,  when  you  perturb  the  town. 

Aristophanes,  Knights,  11 66-1 172 

Paph.    Look,  here  's  a  jolly  little  cake  I  bring, 
Cooked  from  the  barley-grain  I  brought  from  Pylus. 

Sausage-Seller.     And   here   I  'm  bringing  splendid   scoops 
of  bread, 
Scooped  by  the  Goddess  with  her  ivory  hand, 

Demus.    A  mighty  finger  you  must  have,  dread  lady ! 

Paph.    And  here  's  pease-porridge,  beautiful  and  brown. 
Pallas  Pylasmachus  it  was  that  stirred  it. 

The  famous  statue  described  by  Pausanias  is  still  to  be  seen 
at  Olympia. 

Pausanias,  V,  xxvi,  i 

The  Dorian  Messenians,  who  received  Naupactus  from  the 
Athenians,  dedicated  at  Olympia  the  image  of  Victory  that  stands 
on  the  pillar.  It  is  a  work  of  Paeonius  of  Mende,  and  is  made 
from  spoils  taken  from  the  enemy,  at  the  time,  I  think,  when  they 
made  war  on  the  Acarnanians  of  CEniadae.    But  the  Messenians 


350  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

themselves  say  that  the  offering  is  a  tropliy  of  the  battle  in  which 
they  fought  on  the  Athenian  side  in  the  island  of  Sphacteria,  and 
that  they  refrained  from  inscribing  the  name  of  the  enemy  from 
fear  of  the  Lacedaemonians  ;  for,  say  they,  they  had  no  fear  of  the 
Acarnanians  of  Q^niadae. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  63 

Messenian  and  Naupactian  Victories,  b.c.  426-425 

Messenians  and  Naupactians  dedicated  (this  statue)  to  Olympian 
Zeus  as  a  tithe  from  their  enemies.  Paeonius,  a  Mendaean,  made  (it), 
and  he  was  victorious  in  making  the  top-figures  (akroterid)  which 
were  to  be  placed  on  the  temple.    (Frazer,  note  on  V,  xxvi,  i) 

7.  AMPHIPOLIS 
The  scene  of  the  war  now  shifted  to  Thrace  and  in  the  struggle 
there  both  Cleon  and  Brasidas  lost  their  lives.    Thus  the  two  chief 
opponents  of  peace  were  removed,  and  a  treaty  was  made,  followed 
later  by  an  alliance. 

T/iiicydides,  IV,  102,  104 

The  same  winter  Brasidas,  with  his  allies  in  the  Thracian  places, 
marched  against  Amphipolis,  the  Athenian  colony  on  the  river 
Strymon.  A  settlement  upon  the  spot  on  which  the  city  now  stands, 
was  before  attempted  by  Aristagoras,  the  Milesian  (when  he  fled 
from  king  Darius),  who  was  however  dislodged  by  the  Edonians  ; 
and  thirty-two  years  later  by  the  Athenians,  who  sent  thither  ten 
"thousand  settlers  of  their  own  citizens,  and  whoever  else  chose  to 
go.  These  were  cut  off  at  Drabescus  by  the  Thracians.  Twenty- 
nine  years  after,  the  Athenians  returned  (Hagnon,  son  of  Nicias, 
being  sent  out  as  leader  of  the  colony)  and  drove  out  the  Edonians, 
and  founded  a  town  on  the  spot,  formerly  called  Ennea-hodoi  or 
Nine  Ways.  The  base  from  which  they  started  was  Eion,  their 
commercial  seaport  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  not  more  than  three 
miles  from  the  present  town,  which  Hagnon  named  Amphipolis, 
because  the  Strymon  flows  round  it  on  two  sides,  and  he  built  it 
so  as  to  be  conspicuous  from  the  sea  and  land  alike,  running  a  long 
wall  across  from  river  to  river,  to  complete  the  circumference.  .  .  . 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  351 

The  passage  of  Brasidas  was  a  complete  surprise  to  the  people 
in  the  town ;  and  the  capture  of  many  of  those  outside,  and  the 
flight  of  the  rest  within  the  wall,  combined  to  produce  great  confu- 
sion among  the  citizens ;  especially  as  they  did  not  trust  one 
another.  It  is  even  said  that  if  Brasidas,  instead  of  stopping  to 
pillage,  had  advanced  straight  against  the  town,  he  would  probably 
have  taken  it.  In  fact,  however,  he  established  himself  where  he 
was  and  overran  the  country  outside,  and  for  the  present  remained 
inactive,  vainly  awaiting  a  demonstration  on  the  part  of  his  friends 
within.  Meanwhile  the  party  opposed  to  the  traitors  proved  numer- 
ous enough  to  prevent  the  gates  being  immediately  thrown  open, 
and  in  concert  with  Eucles,  the  general,  who  had  come  from 
Athens  to  defend  the  place,  sent  to  the  other  commander  in 
Thrace,  Thucydides,  son  of  Olorus,  the  author  of  this  history,  who 
was  at  the  isle  of  Thasos,  a  Parian  colony,  half  a  day's  sail  from 
Amphipolis,  to  tell  him  to  come  to  their  relief.  On  receipt  of  this 
message  he  at  once  set  sail  with  seven  ships  which  he  had  with 
him,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  reach  Amphipolis  in  time  to  prevent 
its  capitulation,  or  in  any  case  to  save  Eion. 

Meanwhile  Brasidas,  afraid  of  succours  arriving  by  sea  from 
Thasos,  and  learning  that  Thucydides  possessed  the  right  of  work- 
ing the  gold  mines  in  that  part  of  Thrace,  and  had  thivs  great  influ- 
ence with  the  inhabitants  of  the  continent,  hastened  to  gain  the 
town,  if  possible,  before  the  people  of  Amphipolis  should  be  en- 
couraged by  his  arrival  to  hope  that  he  could  save  them  by  getting 
together  a  force  of  allies  from  the  sea  and  from  Thrace,  and  so 
refuse  to  surrender.  He  accordingly  offered  moderate  terms,  pro- 
claiming that  any  of  the  Amphipolitans  and  Athenians  who  chose, 
might  continue  to  enjoy  their  property  with  full  rights  of  citizen- 
ship ;  while  those  who  did  not  wish  to  stay  had  five  days  to  depart, 
taking  their  property  with  them. 

Thucydides^  IV,  106-108 

.  .  .  and  thus  the  surrender  was  made  and  Brasidas  was  admitted 
by  them  on  the  terms  of  his  proclamation.  In  this  way  they  gave 
up  the  city,  and  late  in  the  same  day  Thucydides  and  his  ships 
entered  the  harbour  of  Eion,  Brasidas  having  just  got  hold  of 


352  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Amphipolis,  and  having  been  within  a  night  of  taking  Eion  :  had 
the  ships  been  less  prompt  in  relieving  it,  in  the  morning  it  would 
have  been  his. 

After  this  Thucydides  put  all  in  order  at  Eion  to  secure  it 
against  any  present  or  future  attack  of  Brasidas,  and  received  such 
as  had  elected  to  come  there  from  the  interior  according  to  the 
terms  agreed  on.  Meanwhile  Brasidas  suddenly  sailed  with  a  num- 
ber of  boats  down  the  river  to  Eion  to  see  if  he  could  not  seize 
the  point  running  out  from  the  wall,  and  so  command  the  entrance ; 
at  the  same  time  he  attempted  it  by  land,  but  was  beaten  off  on 
both  sides  and  had  to  content  himself  with  arranging  matters  at 
Amphipolis  and  in  the  neighbourhood.  Myrcinus,  an  Edonian 
town,  also  came  over  to  him ;  the  Edonian  king  Pittacus  having 
been  killed  by  the  sons  of  Goaxis  and  his  own  wife  Brauro ;  and 
Galepsus  and  CEsyme,  which  are  Thasian  colonies,  not  long  after 
followed  its  example.  Perdiccas  too  came  up  immediately  after 
the  capture  and  joined  in  these  arrangements. 

The  news  that  Amphipolis  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  caused 
great  alarm  at  Athens.  Not  only  was  the  town  valuable  for  the 
timber  it  afforded  for  shipbuilding,  and  the  money  that  it  brought 
in ;  but  also,  although  the  escort  of  the  Thessalians  gave  the  Lacedae- 
monians a  means  of  reaching  the  allies  of  Athens  as  far  as  the 
Strymon,  yet  as  long  as  they  were  not  masters  of  the  bridge  but 
were  watched  on  the  side  of  Eion  by  the  Athenian  galleys,  and  on 
the  land  side  impeded  by  a  large  and  extensive  lake  formed  by  the 
waters  of  the  river,  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  go  any  further. 
Now,  on  the  contrary,  the  path  seemed  open.  There  was  also  the 
fear  of  the  allies  revolting,  owing  to  the  moderation  displayed  by 
Brasidas  in  all  his  conduct,  and  to  the  declarations  which  he  was 
everywhere  making  that  he  was  sent  out  to  free  Hellas.  The  towns 
subject  to  the  Athenians,  hearing  of  the  capture  of  Amphipolis 
and  of  the  terms  accorded  to  it,  and  of  the  gentleness  of  Brasidas, 
felt  most  strongly  encouraged  to  change  their  condition,  and  sent 
secret  messages  to  him,  begging  him  to  come  on  to  them  ;  each 
wishing  to  be  the  first  to  revolt.  Indeed  there  seemed  to  be  no 
danger  in  so  doing ;  their  mistake  in  their  estimate  of  the  Athe- 
nian power  was  as  great  as  that  power  afterwards  turned  out  to  be, 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  353 

and  their  judgment  was  based  more  upon  blind  wishing  than  upon 
any  sound  prevision  ;  for  it  is  a  habit  of  mankind  to  entrust  to 
careless  hope  what  they  long  for,  and  to  use  sovereign  reason  to 
thrust  aside  what  they  do  not  fancy.  Besides  the  late  severe  blow 
which  the  Athenians  had  met  with  in  Boeotia,  joined  to  the  seduc- 
tive, though  untrue,  statements  of  Brasidas,  about  the  Athenians 
not  having  ventured  to  engage  his  single  army  at  Nisaea,  made  the 
allies  confident,  and  caused  them  to  believe  that  no  Athenian  force 
would  be  sent  against  them.  Above  all  the  wish  to  do  what  was 
agreeable  at  the  moment,  and  the  likelihood  that  they  should  find 
the  Lacedaemonians  full  of  zeal  at  starting,  made  them  eager  to 
venture.  Observing  this,  the  Athenians  sent  garrisons  to  the  differ- 
ent towns,  as  far  as  was  possible  at  such  short  notice  and  in  winter  ; 
while  Brasidas  sent  despatches  to  Lacedasmon  asking  for  reinforce- 
ments, and  himself  made  preparations  for  building  galleys  in  the 
Strymon.  The  Lacedaemonians  however  did  not  send  him  any, 
partly  through  envy  on  the  part  of  their  chief  men,  partly  because 
they  were  more  bent  on  recovering  the  prisoners  of  the  island  and 
ending  the  war 

Thucydides,  V,  10-16 

After  this  brief  speech  Brasidas  himself  prepared  for  the  sally, 
and  placed  the  rest  with  Clearidas  at  the  Thracian  gates  to  support 
him  as  had  been  agreed.  Meanwhile  he  had  been  seen  coming 
down  from  Cerdylium  and  then  in  the  city,  which  is  overlooked 
from  the  outside,  sacrificing  near  the  temple  of  Athene  ;  in  short, 
all  his  movements  had  been  observed,  and  word  was  brought  to 
Cleon,  who  had  at  the  moment  gone  on  to  look  about  him,  that  the 
whole  of  the  enemy's  force  could  be  seen  in  the  town,  and  that 
the  feet  of  horses  and  men  in  great  numbers  were  visible  under 
the  gates,  as  if  a  sally  were  intended.  Upon  hearing  this  he  went 
up  to  look,  and  having  done  so,  being  unwilling  to  venture  upon 
the  decisive  step  of  a  battle  before  his  reinforcements  came  up, 
and  fancying  that  he  would  have  time  to  retire,  bid  the  retreat  be 
sounded  and  sent  orders  to  the  men  to  effect  it  by  moving  on  the 
left  wing  in  the  direction  of  Eion,  which  was  indeed  the  only  way 
practicable.    This  however  not  being  quick  enough  for  him,  he 


354  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

joined  the  retreat  in  person  and  made  the  right  wing  wheel  round, 
thus  turning  its  unarmed  side  to  the  enemy.  It  was  then  that 
Brasidas  seeing  the  Athenian  force  in  motion  and  his  opportunity 
come,  said  to  the  men  with  him  and  the  rest,  "  Those  fellows  will 
never  stand  before  us,  one  can  see  that-  by  the  way  their  spears  and 
heads  are  going.  Troops  which  do  as  they  do  seldom  stand  a  charge. 
Quick,  some  one,  and  open  the  gates  I  spoke  of,  and  let  us  be  out 
and  at  them  with  no  fears  for  the  result."  Accordingly  issuing  out 
by  the  palisade  gate  and  by  the  first  in  the  long  wall  then  existing, 
he  ran  at  the  top  of  his  speed  along  the  straight  road,  where  the 
trophy  now  stands  as  you  go  by  the  steepest  part  of  the  hill,  and 
fell  upon  and  routed  the  centre  of  the  Athenians,  panic-stricken 
by  their  own  disorder  and  astounded  at  his  audacity.  At  the  same 
moment  Clearidas  in  execution  of  his  orders  issued  out  from  the 
Thracian  gates  to  support  him,  and  also  attacked  the  enemy.  The 
result  was  that  the  Athenians,  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  attacked 
on  both  sides,  fell  into  confusion  ;  and  their  left  towards  Eion, 
which  had  already  got  on  some  distance,  at  once  broke  and  fled. 
Just  as  it  was  in  full  retreat  and  Brasidas  was  passing  on  to  attack 
the  right,  he  received  a  wound  ;  but  his  fall  was  not  perceived  by 
the  Athenians,  as  he  was  taken  up  by  those  near  him  and  carried 
off  the  field.  The  Athenian  right  made  a  better  stand,  and  though 
Cleon,  who  from  the  first  had  no  thought  of  fighting,  at  once  fled 
and  was  overtaken  and  slain  by  a  Myrcinian  targeteer,  his  infantry 
forming  in  close  order  upon  the  hill  twice  or  thrice  repulsed  the 
attacks  of  Clearidas,  and  did  not  finally  give  way  until  they  were 
surrounded  and  routed  by  the  missiles  of  the  Myrcinian  and  Chal- 
cidian  horse  and  the  targeteers.  Thus  the  Athenian  army  was  all 
now  in  flight ;  and  such  as  escaped  being  killed  in  the  battle  or  by 
the  Chalcidian  horse  and  the  targeteers,  dispersed  among  the  hills, 
and  with  difficulty  made  their  way  to  Eion.  The  men  who  had 
taken  up  and  rescued  Brasidas,  brought  him  into  the  town  with 
the  breath  still  in  him  :  he  lived  to  hear  of  the  victory  of  his  troops, 
and  not  long  after  expired.  The  rest  of  the  army  returning  with 
Clearidas  from  the  pursuit  stripped  the  dead  and  set  up  a  trophy. 
After  this  all  the  allies  attended  in  arms  and  buried  Brasidas 
at  the  public  expense  in  the  city,  in  front  of  what  is  now  the 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  355 

market-place,  and  the  Amphipolitans  having  enclosed  his  tomb,  ever 
afterwards  sacrifice  to  him  as  a  hero  and  have  given  to  him  the 
honour  of  games  and  annual  offermgs.  They  constituted  him  the 
founder  of  their  colony,  and  pulled  down  the  Hagnonic  erections 
and  obliterated  everything  that  could  be  interpreted  as  a  memorial 
of  his  having  founded  the  place  ;  for  they  considered  that  Brasidas 
had  been  their  preserver,  and  courting  as  they  did  the  alliance  of 
Lacedaemon  for  fear  of  Athens,  in  their  present  hostile  relations 
with  the  latter  they  could  no  longer  with  the  same  advantage  or 
satisfaction  pay  Hagnon  his  honours.  They  also  gave  the  Athenians 
back  their  dead.  About  six  hundred  of  the  latter  had  fallen  and  only 
seven  of  the  enemy,  owing  to  there  having  been  no  regular  engage- 
ment, but  the  affair  of  accident  and  panic  that  I  have  described. 
After  taking  up  their  dead  the  Athenians  sailed  off  home,  while 
Clearidas  and  his  troops  remained  to  arrange  matters  at  Amphipolis. 

About  the  same  time  three  Lacedaemonians  —  Ramphias,  Auto- 
charidas,  and  Epicydidas  —  led  a  reinforcement  of  nine  hundred 
heavy  infantry  to  the  towns  in  the  direction  of  Thrace,  and  arriving 
at  Heraclea  in  Trachis  reformed  matters  there  as  seemed  good  to 
them.  While  they  delayed  there,  this  battle  took  place  and  so  the 
summer  ended. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  winter  following  Ramphias  and  his 
companions  penetrated  as  far  as  Pierium  in  Thessaly  ;  but  as  the 
Thessalians  opposed  their  further  advance,  and  Brasidas  whom 
they  came  to  reinforce  was  dead,  they  turned  back  home,  thinking 
that  the  moment  had  gone  by,  the  Athenians  being  defeated  and 
gone,  and  themselves  not  equal  to  the  execution  of  Brasidas'  de- 
signs. The  main  cause  however  of  their  return  was  because  they 
knew  that  when  they  set  out,  Lacedaemonian  opinion  was  really  in 
favour  of  peace. 

Indeed  it  so  happened  that  directly  after  the  battle  of  Amphipolis 
and  the  retreat  of  Ramphias  from  Thessaly,  both  sides  ceased  to 
prosecute  the  war  and  turned  their  attention  to  peace.  Athens  had 
suffered  severely  at  Delium,  and  again  shortly  afterwards  at  Am- 
phipolis, and  had  no  longer  that  confidence  in  her  strength  which 
had  made  her  before  refuse  to  treat,  in  the  belief  of  ultimate  victory 
which  her  success  at  the  moment  had  inspired  ;  besides,  she  was 


356  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

afraid  of  her  allies  being  tempted  by  her  reverses  to  rebel  more 
generally,  and  repented  having  let  go  the  splendid  opportunity  for 
peace  which  the  affair  of  Pylos  had  offered.  Lacedaemon,  on  the 
other  hand,  found  the  event  of  the  war  falsify  her  notion  that  a 
few  years  would  suffice  for  the  overthrow  of  the  power  of  the 
Athenians  by  the  devastation  of  their  land.  She  had  suffered  on 
the  island  a  disaster  hitherto  unknown  at  Sparta ;  she  saw  her 
country  plundered  from  Pylos  and  Cythera  ;  the  Helots  were  desert- 
ing, and  she  was  in  constant  apprehension  that  those  who  remained 
in  Peloponnese  would  rely  upon  those  outside  and  take  advantage 
of  the  situation  to  renew  their  old  attempts  at  revolution.  Besides 
this,  as  chance  would  have  it,  her  thirty  years'  truce  with  the  Argives 
was  upon  the  point  of  expiring ;  and  they  refused  to  renew  it  un- 
less Cynuria  were  restored  to  them  ;  so  that  it  seemed  impossible 
to  fight  Argos  and  Athens  at  once.  She  also  suspected  some  of 
the  cities  in  Peloponnese  of  intending  to  go  over  to  the  enemy, 
as  was  indeed  the  case. 

These  considerations  made  both  sides  disposed  for  an  accommo- 
dation ;  the  Lacedaemonians  being  probably  the  most  eager,  as  they 
ardently  desired  to  recover  the  men  taken  upon  the  island,  the 
Spartans  among  whom  belonged  to  the  first  families  and  were 
accordingly  related  to  the  governing  body  in  Lacedaemon.  Nego- 
tiations had  been  begun  directly  after  their  capture,  but  the  Athe- 
nians in  their  hour  of  triumph  would  not  consent  to  any  reasonable 
terms ;  though  after  their  defeat  at  Delium  Lacedaemon,  knowing 
that  they  would  be  now  more  inclined  to  listen,  at  once  concluded 
the  armistice  for  a  year,  during  which  they  were  to  confer  together 
and  see  if  a  longer  period  could  not  be  agreed  upon. 

Now,  however,  after  the  Athenian  defeat  at  Amphipolis,  and 
the  death  of  Cleon  and  Brasidas,  who  had  been  the  two  principal 
opponents  of  peace  on  either  side  —  the  latter  from  the  success 
and  honour  which  war  gave  him,  the  former  because  he  thought 
that,  if  tranquillity  were  restored,  his  crimes  would  be  more  open 
to  detection  and  his  slanders  less  credited  —  the  foremost  candi- 
dates for  power  in  either  city,  Pleistoanax,  son  of  Pausanias,  king 
of  Lacedaemon,  and  Nicias,  son  of  Niceratus,  the  most  fortunate 
general  of  his  time,  each  desired  peace  more  ardently  than  ever. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  357 


8.  THE  PEACE  OF  NICIAS 

Thiicydides,  V,  17-18 

And  at  last,  after  many  claims  had  been  urged  on  either  side  at 
the  conferences,  a  peace  was  agreed  on  upon  the  following  basis. 
Each  party  was  to  restore  its  conquests,  but  Athens  was  to  keep 
Nisasa ;  her  demand  for  Plataea  being  met  by  the  Thebans  assert- 
ing that  they  had  acquired  the  place  not  by  force  or  treachery,  but 
by  the  voluntary  adhesion  upon  agreement  of  its  citizens  ;  and  the 
same,  according  to  the  Athenian  account,  being  the  history  of  her 
acquisition  of  Nisaea.  This  arranged,  the  Lacedaemonians  sum- 
moned their  allies,  and  all  voting  for  peace  except  the  Boeotians, 
Corinthians,  Eleans,  and  Megarians,  who  did  not  approve  of  these 
proceedings,  they  concluded  the  treaty  and  made  peace,  each  of 
the  contracting  parties  swearing  to  the  following  articles  :  — 

The  Athenians  and  Lacedaemonians  and  their  aUies  made  a  treaty,  and 
swore  to  it,  city  by  city,  as  follows :  — 

1.  Touching  the  national  temples,  there  shall  be  a  free  passage  by  land 
and  by  sea  to  all  who  wish  it,  to  sacrifice,  travel,  consult,  and  attend  the  oracle 
or  games,  according  to  the  customs  of  their  countries. 

2.  The  temple  and  shrine  of  Apollo  at  Delphi  and  the  Delphians  shall 
be  governed  by  their  own  laws,  taxed  by  their  own  state,  and  judged  by 
their  own  judges,  the  land  and  the  people,  according  to  the  custom  of  their 
country. 

3.  The  treaty  shall  be  binding  for  fifty  years  upon  the  Athenians  and  the 
allies  of  the  Athenians,  and  upon  the  Lacedaemonians  and  the  allies  of  the 
Lacedaemonians,  without  fraud  or  hurt  by  land  or  by  sea. 

4.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  to  take  up  arms,  with  intent  to  do  hurt,  either  for 
the  Lacedaemonians  and  their  allies  against  the  Athenians  and  their  allies, 
or  for  the  Athenians  and  their  allies  against  the  Lacedaemonians  and  their 
allies,  in  any  way  or  means  whatsoever.  But  should  any  difference  arise  be- 
tween them  they  are  to  have  recourse  to  law  and  oaths,  according  as  may  be 
agreed  between  the  parties. 

5.  The  Lacedaemonians  and  their  allies  shall  give  back  Amphipolis  to  the 
Athenians.  Nevertheless,  in  the  case  of  cities  given  up  by  the  Lacedaemonians 
to  the  Athenians,  the  inhabitants  shall  be  allowed  to  go  where  they  please  and 
to  take  their  property  with  them ;  and  the  cities  shall  be  independent,  paying 
only  the  tribute  of  Aristides.  And  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  Athenians  or 
their  allies  to  carry  on  war  against  them  after  the  treaty  has  been  concluded, 
so  long  as  the  tribute  is  paid.    The  cities  referred  to  are  Argilus,  Stagirus, 


358  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Acanthus,  Scolus,  Olynthus,  and  Spartolus.  These  cities  shall  be  neutral,  allies 
neither  of  the  Lacedaemonians  nor  of  the  Athenians ;  but  if  the  cities  consent, 
it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Athenians  to  make  them  their  allies,  provided  always 
that  the  cities  wish  it.  The  Mecybernaeans,  San^ans,  and  Singasans  shall  inhabit 
their  own  cities,  as  also  the  Olynthians  and  Acanthians ;  but  the  Lacedaemonians 
and  their  allies  shall  give  back  Panactum  to  the  Athenians. 

6.  The  Athenians  shall  give  back  Coryphasium,  Cythera,  Methone,  Pteleum, 
and  Atalante  to  the  Lacedsemonians,  and  also  all  Lacedaemonians  that  are  in 
the  prison  at  Athens  or  elsewhere  in  the  Athenian  dominions,  and  shall  let  go 
the  Peloponnesians  besieged  in  Scione,  and  all  others  in  Scione  that  are  allies 
of  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  all  whom  Brasidas  sent  in  there,  and  any  others 
of  the  allies  of  the  Lacedaemonians  that  may  be  in  the  prison  at  Athens  or 
elsewhere  in  the  Athenian  dominions. 

7.  The  Lacedaemonians  and  their  allies  shall  in  like  manner  give  back  any 
of  the  Athenians  or  their  allies  that  they  may  have  in  their  hands. 

8.  In  the  case  of  Scione,  Toronc,  and  Sermyle,  and  any  other  cities  that 
the  Athenians  may  have,  the  Athenians  may  adopt  such  measures  as  they 
please. 

9.  The  Athenians  shall  take  an  oath  to  the  Lacedaemonians  and  their  allies, 
city  by  city.  Every  man  shall  swear  by  the  most  binding  oath  of  his  country, 
seventeen  from  each  city.  The  oath  shall  be  as  follows :  —  "I  will  abide  by 
this  agreement  and  treaty  honestly  and  without  deceit."  In  the  same  way  an 
oath  shall  be  taken  by  the  Lacedaemonians  and  their  allies  to  the  Athenians ; 
and  the  oath  shall  be  renewed  annually  by  both  parties.  Pillars  shall  be  erected 
at  Olympia,  Pythia,  the  Isthmus,  at  Athens  in  the  Acropolis,  and  at  Lacedas- 
mon  in  the  temple  of  Amyclae. 

ID.  If  anything  be  forgotten,  whatever  it  be,  and  on  whatever  point,  it 
shall  be  consistent  with  their  oath  for  both  parties  the  Athenians  and  Lacedae- 
monians to  alter  it,  according  to  their  discretion. 

The  treaty  begins  from  the  Ephoralty  of  Pleistolas  in  Lacedaemon,  on  the 
27  th  day  of  the  month  of  Artemisium,  and  from  the  Archonship  of  Alcaeus  at 
Athens,  on  the  25th  day  of  the  month  of  Elaphebolion.  Those  who  took  the 
oath  and  poured  the  libations  for  the  Lacedaemonians  were  Pleistoanax,  Agis, 
Pleistolas,  Damagetus,  Chionis,  Metagenes,  Acanthus,  Daithus,  Ischagoras, 
Philocharidas,  Zeuxidas,  Antippus,  Tellis,  Alcinadas,  Empedias,  Menas,  and 
Laphilus;  for  the  Athenians,  Lampon,  Isthmionicus,  Nicias,  Laches,  Euthy- 
demus,  Procles,  Pythodorus,  Hagnon,  Myrtilus,  Thrasycles,  Theagenes,  Aris- 
tocrates,  lolcius,  Timocrates,  Leon,  Lamachus,  and  Demosthenes. 

Thncydidcs,  V,  23-24 

Accordingly,  after  conference  with  the  Athenian  ambassadors, 
an  alHance  was  agreed  upon  and  oaths  were  exchanged,  upon  the 
terms  following  :  — 


THE  PELOFONNESIAN  WAR  359 

1.  The  Laccdasmonians  shall  be  allies  of  the  Athenians  for  fifty  years. 

2.  Should  any  enemy  invade  the  territory  of  Lacedaemon  and  injure  the 
Lacedaemonians,  the  Athenians  shall  help  them  in  such  way  as  they  most  effec- 
tively can,  according  to  their  power.  But  if  the  invader  be  gone  after  plunder- 
ing the  country,  that  city  shall  be  the  enemy  of  Lacedaemon  and  Athens,  and 
shall  be  chastised  by  both,  and  one  shall  not  make  peace  without  the  other. 
This  to  be  honestly,  loyally,  and  without  fraud. 

3.  Should  any  enemy  invade  the  territory  of  Athens  and  injure  the  Athe- 
nians, the  Lacedaemonians  shall  help  them  in  such  way  as  they  most  effectively 
can,  according  to  their  power.  But  if  the  invader  be  gone  after  plundering  the 
country,  that  city  shall  be  the  enemy  of  Lacedaemon  and  Athens,  and  shall  be 
chastised  by  both,  and  one  shall  not  make  peace  without  the  other.  This  to  be 
honestly,  loyally,  and  without  fraud. 

4.  Should  the  slave  population  rise,  the  Athenians  shall  help  the  Lacedae- 
monians with  all  their  might,  according  to  their  power. 

5.  This  treaty  shall  be  sworn  to  by  the  same  persons  on  either  side  that 
swore  to  the  other.  It  shall  be  renewed  annually  by  the  Lacedaemonians  going 
to  Athens  for  the  Dionysia,  and  the  Athenians  to  Lacedaemon  for  the  Hya- 
cinthia,  and  a  pillar  shall  be  set  up  by  either  party;  at  Lacedaemon  near  the 
statue  of  Apollo  at  Amyclae,  and  at  Athens  on  the  Acropolis  near  the  statue 
of  Athena.  Should  the  Lacedaemonians  and  Athenians  see  fit  to  add  to  or  take 
away  from  the  alliance  in  any  particular,  it  shall  be  consistent  with  their  oaths 
for  both  parties  to  do  so,  according  to  their  discretion. 

Those  who  took  the  oath  for  the  Lacedaemonians  were  Pleistoanax,  Agis, 
Pleistolas,  Damagetus,  Chionis,  Metagenes,  Acanthus,  Daithus,  Ischagoras, 
Philocharidas,  Zeuxidas,  Antippus,  Alcinadas,  Tellis,  Empedias,  Menas,  and 
Laphilus ;  for  the  Athenians,  Lampon,  Isthmionicus,  Laches,  Nicias,  Euthy- 
demus,  Procles,  Pythodorus,  Hagnon,  Myrtilus,  Thrasycles,  Theagenes,  Aris- 
tocrates,  lolcius,  Timocrates,  Leon,  Lamachus,  and  Demosthenes. 

This  alliance  was  made  not  long  after  the  treaty  ;  and  the  Athe- 
nians gave  back  the  men  from  the  island  to  the  Lacedaemonians, 
and  the  summer  of  the  eleventh  year  began.  This  completes  the 
history  of  the  first  war,  which  occupied  the  whole  of  the  ten  years 
previously. 

Plutarch,  Nicias,  9 

The  persons  who  had  principally  hindered  the  peace  were  Cleon 
and  Brasidas.  War  setting  off  the  virtue  of  the  one  and  hiding 
the  villainy  of  the  other,  gave  to  the  one  occasions  of  achieving 
brave  actions,  to  the  other  opportunity  of  committing  equal  dis- 
honesties.   Now  when  these  two  were  in  one  battle  both  slain  near 


36o  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Amphipolis,  Nicias  was  aware  that  the  Spartans  had  long  been 
desirous  of  a  peace,  and  that  the  Athenians  had  no  longer  the 
same  confidence  in  the  war.  Both  being  alike  tired,  and,  as  it  were 
by  consent,  letting  fall  their  hands,  he,  therefore,  in  this  nick  of 
time,  employed  his  efforts  to  make  a  friendship  betwixt  the  two 
cities,  and  to  deliver  the  other  states  of  Greece  from  the  evils  and 
calamities  they  laboured  under,  and  so  establish  his  own  good 
name  for  success  as  a  statesman  for  all  future  time.  He  found 
the  men  of  substance,  the  elder  men,  and  the  land-owners  and 
farmers  pretty  generally  all  inclined  to  peace.  And  when,  in 
addition  to  these,  by  conversing  and  reasoning,  he  had  cooled 
the  wishes  of  a  good  many  others  for  war,  he  now  encouraged 
the  hopes  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  counselled  them  to  seek 
peace.  They  confided  in  him,  as  on  account  of  his  general  char- 
acter for  moderation  and  equity,  so,  also,  because  of  the  kind- 
ness and  care  he  had  shown  to  the  prisoners  taken  at  Pylos 
and  kept  in  confinement,  making  their  misfortune  the  more  easy 
to  them. 

The  Athenians  and  the  Spartans  had  before  this  concluded  a 
truce  for  a  year,  and  during  this,  by  associating  with  one  another, 
they  had  tasted  again  the  sweets  of  peace  and  security  and  unim- 
peded intercourse  with  friends  and  connections,  and  thus  longed 
for  an  end  of  that  fighting  and  bloodshed,  and  heard  with  delight 
the  chorus  sing  such  verses  as  — 

my  lance  I  '11  leave 


Laid  by,  for  spiders  to  o'erweave, 

and  remembered  with  joy  the  saying,  In  peace,  they  who  sleep  are 
awaked  by  the  cock-crow,  not  by  the  trumpet.  So  shutting  their 
ears,  with  loud  reproaches,  to  the  forebodings  of  those  who  said 
that  the  Fates  decreed  this  to  be  a  war  of  thrice  nine  years,  the 
whole  question  having  been  debated,  they  made  a  peace.  And 
most  people  thought,  now,  indeed,  they  had  got  an  end  of  all  their 
evils.  And  Nicias  was  in  every  man's  mouth,  as  one  especially 
beloved  of  the  gods,  who,  for  his  piety  and  devotion,  had  been 
appointed  to  give  a  name  to  the  fairest  and  greatest  of  all  bless- 
ings.   For  in  fact  they  considered  the  peace  Nicias's  work,  as  the 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  361 

war  the  work  of  Pericles  ;  because  he,  on  Hght  occasions,  seemed 
to  have  plunged  the  Greeks  into  great  calamities,  while  Nicias  had 
induced  them  to  forget  all  the  evils  they  had  done  each  other 
and  to  be  friends  again ;  and  so  to  this  day  it  is  called  the  Peace 
of  Nicias. 

This  peace  caused  general  rejoicing  and  the  population  went 
mad  with  enthusiasm.  The  "Peace"  of  Aristophanes  came  out  at 
this  time,  most  fully  in  sympathy  with  the  treaty. 

Aristophanes,  Peace,  632-647  (tr.  Rogers) 

Hermes.   Then  your  labouring  population,  flocking  in  from  vale 

and  plain, 
Never  dreamed  that,  like  the  others,  they  themselves  were  sold  for 

gain; 
But  as  having  lost  their  grape-stones,  and  desiring  figs  to  get, 
Every  one  his  rapt  attention  on  the  public  speakers  set ; 
These  beheld   you  poor  and    famished,   lacking  all    your  home 

supplies. 
Straight  they  pitchforked  out  the  Goddess,  scouting  her  with  yells 

and  cries, 
Whensoe'er  (for  much  she  loved  you)  back  she  turned  with  wistful 

eyes. 
Then  with  suits  they  vexed  and  harassed  your  substantial  rich 

allies. 
Whispering  in  your  ear,  "  The  fellow  leans  to  Brasidas,"  and  you 
Like  a  pack  of  hounds  in  chorus  on  the  quivering  victim  flew. 
Yea,  the  City,  sick  and  pallid,  shivering  with  disease  and  fright. 
Any  calumny  they  cast  her,  ate  with  ravenous  appetite. 
Till  at  last  your  friends  perceiving  whence  their  heavy  wounds 

arose. 
Stopped  with  gold  the  mouths  of  speakers  who  were  such  disas- 
trous foes. 
Thus  the  scoundrels  throve  and  prospered :  whilst  distracted  Hellas 

came 
Unobserved  to  wrack  and  ruin  :  but  the  fellow  most  to  blame 
Was  a  tanner. 


362  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Aristophanes,  Peace,  260-300 

War.  Run  in  and  get  a  pestle. 

Riot.  We  've  not  got  one  ; 

We  only  moved  in  yesterday,  you  know. 

War.  Then  run  at  once  and  borrow  one  from  Athens. 

Riot.  I  '11  run  by  Zeus ;  or  else  I  'm  sure  to  catch  it. 

Tryg/EUS.  What 's  to  be  done,  my  poor  dear  mortals,  now .? 
Just  see  how  terrible  our  danger  is  : 
For  if  that  varlet  bring  a  pestle  back, 
War  will  sit  down  and  pulverize  our  cities. 
Heavens  !  may  he  perish,  and  not  bring  one  back. 

War.  How  now  ! 

Riot.  Well } 

War.  Don't  you  bring  it .? 

Riot.  Just  look  here,  sir  : 

The  pestle  the  Athenians  had  is  lost. 
The  tanner  fellow  that  disturbed  all  Hellas. 

Tryg.  O  well  done  he,  Athena,  mighty  mistress ; 
Well  is  he  lost,  and  for  the  state's  advantage. 
Before  they  've  mixed  us  up  this  bitter  salad. 

War.  Then  run  away  and  fetch  from  Lacedasmon 
The  other  pestle. 

Riot.  Yes,  sir. 

War.  Don't  be  long. 

Tryg,  Now  is  the  crisis  of  our  fate,  my  friends. 
And  if  there  's  here  a  man  initiate 
In  Samothrace,  't  is  now  the  hour  to  pray 
For  the  averting  of  —  the  varlet's  feet. 

Riot.  Alas  !  alas  !  and  yet  again,  alas  ! 

War.  What  ails  you  }  don't  you  bring  one  now  1 

Riot.  O  sir. 

The  Spartans  too  have  lost  their  pestle  now. 

War.  How  so,  you  rascal  ? 

Riot.  Why,  they  lent  it  out 

To  friends  up  Thraceward,  and  they  lost  it  there. 

Tryg.  And  well  done  they  !    Well  done  !    Twin  sons  of  Zeus  ! 
Take  courage,  mortals  :  all  may  yet  be  well. 


THE  PKLOPONNESIAN  WAR  363 

War.  Pick  up  the  things,  and  carry  them  away ; 
I  '11  go  within  and  make  myself  a  pestle. 

Trvg.  Now  may  I  sing  the  ode  that  Datis  made, 
The  ode  he  sang  in  ecstasy  at  noon, 
"£"//,  sirs,  I'm  pleased,  and  joyed,  and  coviforted!' 
Now,  men  of  Hellas,  now  the  hour  has  come 
To  throw  away  our  troubles  and  our  wars, 
And,  ere  another  pestle  rise  to  stop  us. 
To  pull  out  Peace,  the  joy  of  all  mankind. 
O  all  ye  farmers,  merchants,  artisans, 
O  all  ye  craftsmen,  aliens,  sojourners, 
O  all  ye  islanders,  O  all  ye  peoples. 
Come  with  ropes,  and  spades,  and  crowbars,  come  in  eager  hurry- 
ing haste, 
Now  the  cup  of  happy  fortune,  brothers,  it  is  ours  to  taste. 


III.    Period  of  so-called  Truce 

1.  ALLIANCE  WITH   ARGOS 

Once  more  inveterate  jealousy  burst  forth,  and  one  faction  of  the 
Athenians  managed  to  put  through  an  alliance  with  Argos,  Man- 
tinea,  and  Elis. 

The  text  of  the  treaty  is  given  by  Thucydides,  who  copied  it 
from  an  inscription,  a  fragment  of  which  is  still  extant.^ 

Thucydides,  V,  43,  47,  78 

The  breach  between  the  Lacedaemonians  and  Athenians  having 
gone  thus  far,  the  party  at  Athens,  also,  who  wished  to  cancel  the 
treaty,  immediately  put  themselves  in  motion.  P^oremost  amongst 
these  was  Alcibiades,  son  of  Clinias,  a  man  yet  young  in  years  for 
any  other  Hellenic  city,  but  distinguished  by  the  splendour  of  his 
ancestry.  Alcibiades  thought  the  Argive  alliance  really  preferable, 
not  that  personal  pique  had  not  also  a  great  deal  to  do  with  his 
opposition ;  he  being  offended  with  the  Lacedaemonians  for  having 

1  See  Hicks  and  Hill,  69  and  note 


364  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

negotiated  the  treaty  through  Nicias  and  Laches,  and  having  over- 
looked him  on  account  of  his  youth,  and  also  for  not  having  shown 
him  the  respect  due  to  the  ancient  connexion  of  his  family  with 
them  as  their  Proxeni,  which,  renounced  by  his  grandfather,  he 
had  lately  himself  thought  to  renew  by  his  attentions  to  their  pris- 
oners taken  in  the  island.  Being  thus,  as  he  thought,  slighted  on 
all  hands,  he  had  in  the  first  instance  spoken  against  the  treaty, 
saying  that  the  Lacedaemonians  were  not  to  be  trusted,  but  that 
they  only  treated,  in  order  to  be  enabled  by  this  means  to  crush 
Argos,  and  afterwards  to  attack  Athens  alone  ;  and  now,  immedi- 
ately upon  the  above  breach  occurring,  he  sent  privately  to  the 
Argives,  telling  them  to  come  as  quickly  as  possible  to  Athens, 
accompanied  by  the  Mantineans  and  Eleans,  with  proposals  of 
alliance  ;  as  the  moment  was  propitious  and  he  himself  would  do 
all  he  could  to  help  them.  .  .  . 

The  Athenians,  Argives,  Mantineans,  and  Eleans,  acting  for  themselves 
and  the  allies  in  their  respective  empires,  made  a  treaty  for  a  hundred  years, 
to  be  without  fraud  or  hurt  by  land  and  by  sea. 

1.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  to  carry  on  war,  either  for  the  Argives,  Eleans, 
Mantineans,  and  their  allies,  against  the  Athenians,  or  the  allies  in  the  Athenian 
empire ;  or  for  the  Athenians  and  their  allies  against  the  Argives,  Eleans, 
Mantineans,  or  their  allies,  in  any  way  or  means  whatsoever. 

The  Athenians,  Argives,  Eleans,  and  Mantineans  shall  be  allies  for  a  hun- 
dred years  upon  the  terms  following :  — 

2.  If  an  enemy  invade  the  country  of  the  Athenians,  the  Argives,  Eleans, 
and  Mantineans  shall  go  to  the  relief  of  Athens,  according  as  the  Athenians 
may  require  by  message,  in  such  way  as  they  most  effectually  can,  to  the  best 
of  their  power.  But  if  the  invader  be  gone  after  plundering  the  territory,  the 
offending  state  shall  be  the  enemy  of  the  Argives,  Mantineans,  Eleans,  and 
Athenians,  and  war  shall  be  made  against  it  by  all  these  cities ;  and  no  one  of 
the  cities  shall  be  able  to  make  peace  with  that  state,  except  all  the  above  cities 
agree  to  do  so. 

3.  Likewise  the  Athenians  shall  go  to  the  relief  of  Argos,  Mantinea,  and  Elis, 
if  an  enemy  invade  the  country  of  Elis,  Mantinea,  or  Argos,  according  as  the 
above  cities  may  require  by  message,  in  such  way  as  they  most  effectually  can, 
to  the  best  of  their  power.  But  if  the  invader  be  gone  after  plundering  the 
territory,  the  state  offending  shall  be  the  enemy  of  the  Athenians,  Argives, 
Mantineans,  and  Eleans,  and  war  shall  be  made  against  it  by  all  these  cities, 
and  peace  may  not  be  made  with  that  state  except  all  the  above  cities  agree 
to  it. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  3^5 

4.  No  armed  force  shall  be  allowed  to  pass  for  hostile  purposes  through  the 
country  of  the  powers  contracting,  or  of  the  allies  in  their  respective  empires, 
or  to  go  by  sea,  except  all  the  cities  —  that  is  to  say,  Athens,  Argos,  Mantinea, 
and  Elis  — •  vote  for  such  passage. 

5.  The  relieving  troops  shall  be  maintained  by  the  city  sending  them  for 
thirty  days  from  their  arrival  in  the  city  that  has  required  them,  and  upon 
their  return  in  the  same  way ;  if  their  services  be  desired  for  a  longer  period 
the  city  that  sent  for  them  shall  maintain  them,  at  the  rate  of  three  yEginetan 
obols  per  day  for  a  heavy-armed  soldier,  archer,  or  light  soldier,  and  an  ^gine- 
tan  drachma  for  a  trooper. 

6.  The  city  sending  for  the  troops  shall  have  the  command  when  the  war 
is  in  its  own  country;  but  in  case  of  the  cities  resolving  upon  a  joint  expedition 
the  command  shall  be  equally  divided  among  all  the  cities. 

7.  The  treaty  shall  be  sworn  to  by  the  Athenians  for  themselves  and  their 
allies,  by  the  Argives,  Mantineans,  Eleans,  and  their  allies,  by  each  state  in- 
dividually. Each  shall  swear  the  oath  most  binding  in  his  country  over  full- 
grown  victims ;  the  oath  being  as  follows  : 

"  I  WILL  STAND  BY  THE  ALLIANCE  AND  ITS  ARTICLES,  JUSTLY,  INNO- 
CENTLY, AND  SINCERELY,  AND  I  WILL  NOT  TRANSGRESS  THE  SAME  IN  ANY 
WAY  OR  MEANS  WHATSOEVER." 

The  oath  shall  be  taken  at  Athens  by  the  Senate  and  the  magistrates,  the 
Prytanes  administering  it;  at  Argos  by  the  Senate,  the  Eighty,  and  the  Artynae, 
the  Eighty  administering  it ;  at  Mantinea  by  the  Demiurgi,  the  Senate,  and 
the  other  magistrates,  the  Theori  and  Polemarchs  administering  it;  at  Elis 
by  the  Demiurgi,  the  magistrates,  and  the  Six  Hundred,  the  Demiurgi  and  the 
Thesmophylaces  administering  it.  The  oaths  shall  be  renewed  by  the  Athenians 
going  to  Elis,  Mantinea,  and  Argos  thirty  days  before  the  Olympic  games ;  by 
the  Argives,  Mantineans,  and  Eleans  going  to  Athens  ten  days  before  the  great 
feast  of  the  Panathenasa.  The  articles  of  the  treaty,  the  oaths,  and  the  alliance 
shall  be  inscribed  on  a  stone  pillar  by  the  Athenians  in  the  citadel,  by  the 
Argives  in  the  market-place,  in  the  temple  of  Apollo  ;  by  the  Mantineans  in 
the  temple  of  Zeus,  in  the  market-place ;  and  a  brazen  pillar  shall  be  erected 
jointly  by  them  at  the  Olympic  games  now  at  hand.  Should  the  above  cities 
see  good  to  make  any  addition  to  these  articles,  whatever  all  the  above  cities 
shall  agree  upon,  after  consulting  together,  shall  be  binding. 

Although  the  treaty  and  alHances  were  thus  concluded,  still  the 
treaty  between  the  Lacedaemonians  and  Athenians  was  not  re- 
nounced by  either  party.   .  .   . 

After  this  intercourse  was  renewed  between  them,  and  not  long 
afterwards  the  same  party  contrived  that  the  Argives  should  give 
up  the  league  with  the  Mantineans,  Eleans,  and  Athenians,  and 
should  make  a  treaty  and  alliance  with  the  Lacedaemonians. 


366  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

As  the  feeling  toward  Argos  on  the  occasion  of  a  former  alh- 
ance  had  been  reflected  in  the  "  Eumenides"  of  yEschylus,  so  in  the 
"Suppliants"  of  Euripides  the  bond  of  union  is  pronounced  with 
all  due  solemnity  and  all  sorts  of  evils  invoked  upon  the  one  who 
breaks  it. 

Euripides,  Suppliants,  1191-1209  (tr.  Way) 

Be  this  the  oath,  —  that  never  Argive  men 

Shall  bear  against  this  land  array  of  war ; 

If  others  come,  their  spear  shall  bar  the  way. 

If  ye  break  oath,  and  come  against  our  town, 

Call  down  on  Argos  miserable  ruin. 

And  where  to  slay  the  victims  hear  me  tell : 

Thou  hast  a  brazen  tripod  in  thine  halls, 

Which  Herakles,  from  Ilium's  overthrow 

Hasting  upon  another  mighty  task, 

Bade  thee  to  set  up  at  the  Pythian  hearth. 

O'er  this  three  throats  of  three  sheep  sever  thou. 

And  in  the  tripod's  hollow  grave  the  oath. 

Then  give  it  to  the  Delphian  God  to  guard. 

Token  of  oaths  and  witness  unto  Hellas. 

And  that  keen  knife,  wherewith  thou  shalt  have  gashed 

The  victims  with  the  death-wound,  bury  thou 

In  the  earth's  depths  hard  by  the  seven  pyres. 

For,  if  they  march  on  Athens  ever,  this 

Shown  them,  shall  daunt,  and  turn  them  back  with  shame. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  bitter  feeling  toward  Sparta  finds  ex- 
pression in  two.  passages  in  the  "  Andromache," 

Euripides,  Andromache,  445-453  (tr.  Way) 

O  ye  in  all  folk's  eyes  most  loathed  of  rnen, 

Dwellers  in  Sparta,  senates  of  treachery. 

Princes  of  lies,  weavers  of  webs  of  guile. 

Thoughts  crooked,  wholesome  never,  devious  all, — 

A  crime  is  your  supremacy  in  Greece  ! 

What  vileness  lives  not  with  you  .?  —  swarming  murders  } 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR      •  367 

Covetousness  ?  —  O  ye  convict  of  saying 

This  with  the  tongue,  while  still  your  hearts  mean  that ! 

Now  ruin  seize  ye  ! 

Euripides,  Andromache,  724-726 

If  spear-renown 
And  battle-fame  be  ta'en  from  Sparta's  sons, 
In  all  else  are  ye  meanest  of  mankind. 

2.  THE  MELIAN  AFFAIR 

One  other  incident  of  this  time  has  been  quoted  rather  fully  on 
account  of  its  vivid  and  dramatic  character.  The  affair  over  Mity- 
lene  had  been  bad,  but  it  lacked  the  diabolical  cynicism  of  some 
of  the  arguments  brought  forward  at  the  time  when  Athens  felt 
it  incumbent  upon  her  to  force  Melos  into  a  dependent  position. 

TJiucydides,  V,  84,  89-1.14 

The  next  summer  Alcibiades  sailed  with  twenty  ships  to  Argos 
and  seized  the  suspected  persons  still  left  of  the  Lacedaemonian 
faction  to  the  number  of  three  hundred,  whom  the  Athenians  forth- 
with lodged  in  the  neighbouring  islands  of  their  empire.  The 
Athenians  also  made  an  expedition  against  the  isle  of  Melos  with 
thirty  ships  of  their  own,  six  Chian,  and  two  Lesbian  vessels,  six- 
teen hundred  heavy  infantry,  three  hundred  archers,  and  twenty 
mounted  archers  from  Athens,  and  about  fifteen  hundred  heavy 
infantry  from  the  allies  and  the  islanders.  The  Melians  are  a 
colony  of  Lacedacmon  that  would  not  submit  to  the  Athenians  like 
the  other  islanders,  and  at  first  remained  neutral  and  took  no  part 
in  the  struggle,  but  afterwards  upon  the  Athenians  using  violence 
and  plundering  their  territory,  assumed  an  attitude  of  openhostility. 
Cleomedes,  son  of  Lycomedes,  and  Tisias,  son  of  Tisimachus,  the 
generals,  encamping  in  their  territory  with  the  above  armament, 
before  doing  any  harm  to  their  land,  sent  envoys  to  negotiate. 
These  the  Melians  did  not  bring  before  the  people,  but  bade  them 
state  the  object  of  their  mission  to  the  magistrates  and  the  few ; 
upon  which  the  Athenian  envoys  spoke  as  follows  :  —  ... 


368  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Athenians.  —  "For  ourselves,  we  shall  not  trouble  you  with 
specious  pretences  —  either  of  how  we  have  a  right  to  our  empire 
because  we  overthrew  the  Mede,  or  are  now  attacking  you  because 
of  wrong  that  you  have  done  us  —  and  make  a  long  speech  which 
would  not  be  believed ;  and  in  return  we  hope  that  you,  instead  of 
thinking  to  influence  us  by  saying  that  you  did  not  join  the  Lace- 
dccmonians,  although  their  colonists,  or  that  you  have  done  us  no 
wrong,  will  aim  at  what  is  feasible,  holding  in  view  the  real  senti- 
ments of  us  both  ;  since  you  know  as  well  as  we  do  that  right,  as 
the  world  goes,  is  only  in  question  between  equals  in  power,  while 
the  strong  do  what  they  can  and  the  weak  suffer  what  they  must." 

Melians.  —  "As  we  think,  at  any  rate,  it  is  expedient  —  we 
speak  as  we  are  obliged,  since  you  enjoin  us  to  let  right  alone 
and  talk  only  of  interest  —  that  you  should  not  destroy  what  is 
our  common  protection,  the  privilege  of  being  allowed  in  danger 
to  invoke  what  is  fair  and  right,  and  even  to  profit  by  arguments 
not  strictly  valid  if  they  can  be  got  to  pass  current.  And  you  are 
as  much  interested  in  this  as  any,  as  your  fall  would  be  a  signal 
for  the  heaviest  vengeance  and  an  example  for  the  world  to 
meditate  upon." 

Athenians.  —  "The  end  of  our  empire,  if  end  it  should,  does 
not  frighten  us  :  a  rival  empire  like  Lacedaemon,  even  if  Lacedae- 
mon  was  our  real  antagonist,  is  not  so  terrible  to  the  vanquished 
as  subjects  who  by  themselves  attack  and  overpower  their  rulers. 
This,  however,  is  a  risk  that  we  are  content  to  take.  We  will  now 
proceed  to  show  you  that  we  are  come  here  in  the  interest  of  our 
empire,  and  that  we  shall  say  what  we  are  now  going  to  say,  for 
the  preservation  of  your  country  ;  as  we  would  fain  exercise  that 
empire  over  you  without  trouble,  and  see  you  preserved  for  the 
good  of  us  both." 

Melians.  —  "  And  how,  pray,  could  it  turn  out  as  good  for  us 
to  serve  as  for  you  to  rule  ?  " 

Athenians.  —  "  Because  you  would  have  the  advantage  of  sub- 
mitting before  suffering  the  worst,  and  we  should  gain  by  not 
destroying  you." 

Melians.  —  "So  that  you  would  not  consent  to  our  being  neutral, 
friends  instead  of  enemies,  but  allies  of  neither  side." 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  369 

Athenians.  —  "  No  ;  for  your  hostility  cannot  so  niucii  hurt  us  as 
your  friendship  will  be  an  argument  to  our  subjects  of  our  weak- 
ness, and  your  enmity  of  our  power." 

Melians.  —  "  Is  that  your  subjects'  idea  of  equity,  to  put  those 
who  have  nothing  to  do  with  you  in  the  same  category  with  peoples 
that  are  most  of  them  your  own  colonists,  and  some  conquered 
rebels  ? " 

Athenians.  —  "As  far  as  right  goes  they  think  one  has  as  much 
of  it  as  the  other,  and  that  if  any  maintain  their  independence  it  is 
because  they  are  strong,  and  that  if  we  do  not  molest  them  it  is 
because  we  are  afraid  ;  so  that  besides  extending  our  empire  we 
should  gain  in  security  by  your  subjection  ;  the  fact  that  you 
are  islanders  and  weaker  than  others  rendering  it  all  the-  more 
important  that  you  should  not  succeed  in  baffling  the  masters  of 
the  sea," 

Melians.  —  "  But  do  you  consider  that  there  is  no  security  in 
the  policy  which  we  indicate  ?  For  here  again  if  you  debar  us 
from  talking  about  justice  and  invite  us  to  obey  your  interest,  we 
also  must  explain  ours,  and  try  to  persuade  you,  if  the  two  happen 
to  coincide.  How  can  you  avoid  making  enemies  of  all  exist- 
ing neutrals  who  shall  look  at  our  case  and  conclude  from  it 
that  one  day  or  another  you  will  attack  them  ?  And  what  is  this 
but  to  make  greater  the  enemies  that  you  have  already,  and 
to  force  others  to  become  so  who  would  otherwise  have  never 
thought  of  it .?  " 

Athenians.  —  "Why,  the  fact  is  that  continentals  generally  give 
us  but  little  alarm  ;  the  liberty  which  they  enjoy  will  long  prevent 
their  taking  precautions  against  us  ;  it  is  rather  islanders  like  your- 
selves, outside  our  empire,  and  subjects  smarting  under  the  yoke, 
who  would  be  the  most  likely  to  take  a  rash  step  and  lead  them- 
selves and  us  into  obvious  danger." 

Melians.  —  "Well  then,  if  you  risk  so  much  to  retain  your 
empire,  and  your  subjects  to  get  rid  of  it,  it  were  surely  great  base- 
ness and  cowardice  in  us  who  are  still  free  not  to  try  everything 
that  can  be  tried,  before  submitting  to  your  yoke." 

Athenians.  —  "  Not  if  you  are  well  advised,  the  contest  not  being 
an  equal  one,  with  honour  as  the  prize  and  shame  as  the  penalty, 


370  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

but  a  question  of  self-preservation  and  of  not  resisting  those  who 
are  far  stronger  than  you  are." 

Melians.  —  "  But  we  know  that  the  fortune  of  war  is  sometimes 
more  impartial  than  the  disproportion  of  numbers  might  lead  one 
to  suppose ;  to  submit  is  to  give  ourselves  over  to  despair,  while 
action  still  preserves  for  us  a  hope  that  we  may  stand  erect." 

Athenians.  —  "'  Hope,  danger's  comforter,  may  be  indulged  in 
n/  by  those  who  have  abundant  resources,  if  not  without  loss  at  all 
events  without  ruin  ;  but  its  nature  is  to  be  extravagant,  and  those 
who  go  so  far  as  to  put  their  all  upon  the  venture  see  it  in  its  true 
colours  only  when  they  are  ruined  ;  but  so  long  as  the  discovery 
would  enable  them  to  guard  against  it,  it  is  never  found  wanting. 
Let  not  this  be  the  case  with  you,  who  are  weak  and  hang  on  a 
single  turn  of  the  scale ;  nor  be  like  the  vulgar,  who,  abandoning 
such  security  as  human  means  may  still  afford,  when  visible  hopes 
fail  them  in  extremity,  turn  to  invisible,  to  prophecies  and  oracles, 
and  other  such  inventions  that  delude  men  with  hopes  to  their 
destruction." 

Melians.  —  "'  You  may  be  sure  that  we  are  as  well  aware  as  you 
of  the  difficulty  of  contending  against  your  power  and  fortune, 
unless  the  terms  be  equal.  But  we  trust  that  the  gods  may  grant 
us  fortune  as  good  as  yours,  since  we  are  just  men  fighting  against 
unjust,  and  that  what  we  want  in  power  will  be  made  up  by  the 
alliance  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  who  are  bound,  if  only  for  very 
shame,  to  come  to  the  aid  of  their  kindred.  Our  confidence, 
therefore,  after  all  is  not  so  utterly  irrational." 

Athenians.  —  "  When  you  speak  of  the  favour  of  the  gods,  we 
may  as  fairly  hope  for  that  as  yourselves  ;  neither  our  pretensions 
nor  our  conduct  being  in  any  way  contrary  to  what  men  believe  of 
the  gods,  or  practise  among  themselves.  Of  the  gods  we  believe, 
and  of  men  we  know,  that  by  a  necessary  law  of  their  nature  they 
rule  wherever  they  can.  And  it  is  not  as  if  we  were  the  first  to 
make  this  law,  or  to  act  upon  it  when  made  :  we  found  it  existing 
before  us,  and  shall  leave  it  to  exist  for  ever  after  us  ;  all  we  do  is 
to  make  use  of  it,  knowing  that  you  and  everybody  else,  having 
the  same  power  as  we  have,  would  do  the  same  as  we  do.  Thus, 
as  far  as  the  gods  are  concerned,  we  have  no  fear  and  no  reason 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  371 

to  fear  that  we  shall  be  at  a  disadvantage.  But  when  we  come  to 
your  notion  about  the  Lacedaemonians,  which  leads  you  to  believe 
that  shame  will  make  them  help  you,  here  we  bless  your  simplicity 
but  do  not  envy  your  folly.  The  Lacedaemonians,  when  their  own 
interests  or  their  country's  laws  are  in  question,  are  the  worthiest 
men  alive ;  of  their  conduct  towards  others  much  might  be  said, 
but  no  clearer  idea  of  it  could  be  given  than  by  shortly  saying  that 
of  all  the  men  we  know  they  are  most  conspicuous  in  considering 
what  is  agreeable  honourable,  and  what  is  expedient  just.  Such  a 
way  of  thinking  does  not  promise  much  for  the  safety  which  you 
now  unreasonably  count  upon." 

Melians.  —  "  But  it  is  for  this  very  reason  that  we  now  trust  to 
their  respect  for  expediency  to  prevent  them  from  betraying  the 
Melians,  their  colonists,  and  thereby  losing  the  confidence  of  their 
friends  in  Hellas  and  helping  their  enemies." 

Athenians.  —  "  Then  you  do  not  adopt  the  view  that  expediency 
goes  with  security,  while  justice  and  honour  cannot  be  followed 
without  danger ;  and  danger  the  Lacedaemonians  generally  court 
as  little  as  possible." 

Melians.  —  "  But  we  believe  that  they  would  be  more  likely  to 
face  even  danger  for  our  sake,  and  with  more  confidence  than  for 
others,  as  our  nearness  to  Peloponnese  makes  it  easier  for  them 
to  act,  and  our  common  blood  insures  our  fidelity." 

Athenians.  —  "  Yes,  but  what  an  intending  ally  trusts  to,  is  not 
the  goodwill  of  those  who  ask  his  aid,  but  a  decided  superiority  of 
power  for  action  ;  and  the  Lacedaemonians  look  to  this  even  more 
than  others.  At  least,  such  is  their  distrust  of  their  home  resources 
that  it  is  only  with  numerous  allies  that  they  attack  a  neighbour ; 
now  is  it  likely  that  while  we  are  masters  of  the  sea  they  will  cross 
over  to  an  island  .?  " 

Melians.  —  "  But  they  would  have  others  to  send.  The  Cretan 
sea  is  a  wide  one,  and  it  is  more  difficult  for  those  who  command 
it  to  intercept  others,  than  for  those  who  wish  to  elude  them  to  do 
so  safely.  And  should  the  Lacedaemonians  miscarry  in  this,  they 
would  fall  upon  your  land,  and  upon  those  left  of  your  allies  whom 
Brasidas  did  not  reach ;  and  instead  of  places  which  are  not  yours,  you 
will  have  to  fight  for  your  own  country  and  your  own  confederacy." 


172  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Athenians. —  "  Some  diversion  of  the  kind  you  speak  of  you 
may  one  day  experience,  only  to  learn,  as  others  have  done,  that 
the  Athenians  never  once  yet  withdrew  from  a  siege  for  fear  of 
any.  But  we  are  struck  by  the  fact,  that  after  saying  you  would 
consult  for  the  safety  of  your  country,  in  all  this  discussion  you 
have  mentioned  nothing  which  men  might  trust  in  and  think  to 
be  saved  by.  Your  strongest  arguments  depend  upon  hope  and  the 
future,  and  your  actual  resources  are  too  scanty,  as  compared  with 
those  arrayed  against  you,  for  you  to  come  out  victorious.  You 
will  therefore  show  great  blindness  of  judgment,  unless,  after 
allowing  us  to  retire,  you  can  find  some  counsel  more  prudent  than 
this.  You  will  surely  not  be  caught  by  that  idea  of  disgrace,  which 
in  dangers  that  are  disgraceful,  and  at  the  same  time  too  plain  to 
be  mistaken,  proves  so  fatal  to  mankind  ;  since  in  too  many  cases 
the  very  men  that  have  their  eyes  perfectly  opened  to  what  they 
are  rushing  into,  let  the  thing  called  disgrace,  by  the  mere  influ- 
ence of  a  seductive  name,  lead  them  on  to  a  point  at  which  they 
become  so  enslaved  by  the  phrase  as  in  fact  to  fall  wilfully  into 
hopeless  disaster,  and  incur  disgrace  more  disgraceful  as  the  com- 
panion of  error,  than  when  it  comes  as  the  result  of  misfortune. 
This,  if  you  are  well  advised,  you  will  guard  against ;  and  you  will 
not  think  it  dishonourable  to  submit  to  the  greatest  city  in  Hellas, 
when  it  makes  you  the  moderate  offer  of  becoming  its  tributary 
ally,  without  ceasing  to  enjoy  the  country  that  belongs  to  you ;  nor 
when  you  have  the  choice  given  you  between  war  and  security, 
will  you  be  so  blinded  as  to  choose  the  worse.  And  it  is  certain  that 
those  who  do  not  yield  to  their  equals,  who  keep  terms  with  their 
superiors,  and  are  moderate  towards  their  inferiors,  on  the  whole 
succeed  best.  Think  over  the  matter,  therefore,  after  our  with- 
drawal, and  reflect  once  and  again  that  it  is  for  your  country  that 
you  are  consulting,  that  you  have  not  more  than  one,  and  that  upon 
this  one  deliberation  depends  its  prosperity  or  ruin." 

The  Athenians  now  withdrew  from  the  conference ;  and  the 
Melians,  left  to  themselves,  came  to  a  decision  corresponding  with 
what  they  had  maintained  in  the  discussion,  and  answered,  "  Our 
resolution,  Athenians,  is  the  same  as  it  was  at  first.  We  will  not 
in  a  moment  deprive  of  freedom  a  city  that  has  been  inhabited 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  373 

these  seven  hundred  years  ;  but  we  put  our  trust  in  the  fortune 
by  which  the  gods  have  preserved  it  until  now,  and  in  the  help  of 
men,  that  is,  of  the  Lacedaemonians ;  and  so  we  will  try  and  save 
ourselves.  Meanwhile  we  invite  you  to  allow  us  to  be  friends  to 
you  and  foes  to  neither  party,  and  to  retire  from  our  country  after 
making  such  a  treaty  as  shall  seem  fit  to  us  both." 

Such  was  the  answer  of  the  Melians.  The  Athenians  now  depart- 
ing from  the  conference  said,  '"  Well,  you  alone,  as  it  seems  to  us, 
judging  from  these  resolutions,  regard  what  is  future  as  more 
certain  than  what  is  before  your  eyes,  and  what  is  out  of  sight,  in 
your  eagerness,  as  already  coming  to  pass  ;  and  as  you  have  staked 
most  on,  and  trusted  most  in,  the  Lacedaemonians,  your  fortune, 
and  your  hopes,  so  will  you  be  most  completely  deceived." 

The  Athenian  envoys  now  returned  to  the  army ;  and  the 
Melians  showing  no  signs  of  yielding,  the  generals  at  once  betook 
themselves  to  hostilities,  and  drew  a  line  of  circumvallation  round 
the  Melians,  dividing  the  work  among  the  different  states.  Subse- 
quently the  Athenians  returned  with  most  of  their  army,  leaving 
behind  them  a  certain  number  of  their  own  citizens  and  of  the 
allies  to  keep  guard  by  land  and  sea.  The  force  thus  left  stayed 
on  and  besieged  the  place. 

T/iiecydides,  V,  ii6 

Summer  was  now  over.  The  next  winter  the  Lacedaemonians 
intended  to  invade  the  Argive  territory,  but  arriving  at  the  frontier 
found  the  sacrifices  for  crossing  unfavourable,  and  went  back  again. 
This  intention  of  theirs  gave  the  Argives  suspicions  of  certain  of 
their  fellow-citizens,  some  of  whom  they  arrested  ;  others,  however, 
escaped  them.  About  the  same  time  the  Melians  again  took  another 
part  of  the  Athenian  lines  which  were  but  feebly  garrisoned.  Rein- 
forcements afterwards  arriving  from  Athens  in  consequence,  under 
the  command  of  Philocrates,  son  of  Demeas,  the  siege  was  now 
pressed  vigorously  ;  and  some  treachery  taking  place  inside,  the 
Melians  surrendered  at  discretion  to  the  Athenians,  who  put  to 
death  all  the  grown  men  whom  they  took,  and  sold  the  women  and 
children  for  slaves,  and  subsequently  sent  out  five  hundred  colonists 
and  inhabited  the  place  themselves. 


374  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Once  more  we  turn  to  Euripides,  who  in  the  "  Trojan  Women," 
produced  at  this  time,  brings  before  us  the  heartrending  pathos  of 
the  lot  of  the  captives.  The  Hnes  are  just  as  true  of  affairs  at  Melos 
as  at  Troy.i 

Euripides,  Trojan  Women ^  1081-1106  (tr.  Murray) 

A  Woman 

Dear  one,  O  husband  mine, 
Thou  in  the  dim  dominions 
Driftest  with  waterless  lips, 
Unburied  ;  and  me  the  ships 
Shall  bear  o'er  the  bitter  brine, 
Storm-birds  upon  angry  pinions. 
Where  the  towers  of  the  Giants  shine 
O'er  Argos  cloudily. 
And  the  riders  ride  by  the  sea. 

Others 

And  children  still  in  the  Gate 

Crowd  and  cry, 

A  multitude  desolate. 

Voices  that  float  and  wait 

As  the  tears  run  dry  : 

"  Mother,  alone  on  the  shore 

They  drive  me,  far  from  thee  : 

Lo,  the  dip  of  the  oar, 

The  black  hull  on  the  sea ! 

Is  it  the  Isle  Immortal, 

Salamis,  waits  for  me  .? 

Is  it  the  Rock  that  broods 

Over  the  sundered  floods 

Of  Corinth,  the  ancient  portal 

Of  Pelops'  sovranty  ?  " 

1  For  the  historical  interpretation  of  these  passages  from  Euripides  see  Macurdy  in 
The  Classical  Weekly,  II  (190S-1909),  pp.  13S-140,  145-148. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  375 


A  Woman 


Out  in  the  waste  of  foam, 
Where  rideth  dark  Menelaus, 
Come  to  us  there,  O  white 
And  jagged,  with  wild  sea  hght 
And  crashing  of  oar-blades,  come, 
O  thunder  of  God,  and  slay  us  : 
While  our  tears  are  wet  for  home, 
While  out  in  the  storm  go  we, 
Slaves  of  our  enemy  ! 

Euripides,  Trojan  Women.,  1190-1191 

O  ye  Argives,  was  your  spear 
Keen,  and  your  hearts  so  low  and  cold,  to  fear 
This  babe  ?  'T  was  a  stranjje  murder  for  brave  men  ! 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  (CONTINUED) 

The  Sicilian  expedition  —  Debate  on  the  undertaking  —  Preparations — Mutilation 

of  the  Hermse  and  burlesque  of  the  mysteries- — Departure  of  the  expedition  — 

Command  and  policy 

I.    The  Sicilian  Expedition 

The  question  of  sending  an  expedition  to  Sicily  was  warmly 
debated.  Great  efforts  were  made  by  their  allies,  the  Egestseans, 
to  secure  the  aid  of  the  Athenians. 

In  the  discussion  which  followed  Nicias  made  a  supreme  effort 
to  stop  any  such  plan.  The  arguments  which  he  advanced  were 
attributed  by  his  fellow  citizens  to  his  timid  disposition,  but  the 
eloquent  though  wild  speech  of  Alcibiades  led  Nicias  to  make  a 
second  strong  statement  of  the  difficulties  in  which  such  an  under- 
taking would  involve  the  Athenians. 

The  enthusiasm  for  the  expedition  could  not  be  checked,  but 
the  people  unwisely  chose  as  one  of  the  commanders  the  man 
who  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  it. 

1.  PRELIMINARY  NEGOTIATIONS 
Thiicydldes,  VI,  i,  6 

The  same  winter  the  Athenians  resolved  to  sail  again  to  Sicily, 
with  a  greater  armament  than  that  under  Laches  and  Eurymedon, 
and,  if  possible,  to  conquer  the  island ;  most  of  them  being  igno- 
rant of  its  size  and  of  the  number  of  its  inhabitants,  Hellenic  and 
barbarian,  and  of  the  fact  that  they  were  undertaking  a  war  not 
much  inferior  to  that  against  the  Peloponnesians.  For  the  voyage 
round  Sicily  in  a  merchantman  is  not  far  short  of  eight  days  ;  and 
yet,  large  as  the  island  is,  there  are  only  two  miles  of  sea  to  pre- 
vent its  being  mainland.  .  .  . 

376 


THE  PELOPONiNESIAN  WAR  377 

Such  is  the  Hst  of  the  peoples,  Hellenic  and  barbarian,  inhabit- 
ing Sicily,  and  such  the  magijitude  of  the  island  which  the  Athe- 
nians were  now  bent  upon  invading  ;  being  ambitious  in  real  truth 
of  conquering  the  whole,  although  they  had  also  the  specious 
design  of  succouring  their  kindred  and  other  allies  in  the  island. 
But  they  were  especially  incited  by  envoys  from  Egesta,  who  had 
come  to  Athens  and  invoked  their  aid  more  urgently  than  ever. 
The  Egestaeans  had  gone  to  war  with  their  neighbours  the  Seli- 
nuntines  upon  questions  of  marriage  and  disputed  territory,  and 
the  Selinuntines  had  procured  the  alliance  of  the  Syracusans,  and 
pressed  Egesta  hard  by  land  and  sea.  The  Egestaeans  now  re- 
minded the  Athenians  of  the  alliance  made  in  the  time  of  Laches, 
during  the  former  Leontine  war,  and  begged  them  to  send  a  fleet 
to  their  aid,  and  among  a  number  of  other  considerations  urged  as 
a  capital  argument,  that  if  the  Syracusans  were  allowed  to  go  un- 
punished for  their  depopulation  of  Leontini,  to  ruin  the  allies  still 
left  to  Athens  in  Sicily,  and  to  get  the  whole  power  of  the  island 
into  their  hands,  there  would  be  a  danger  of  their  one  day  coming 
with  a  large  force,  as  Dorians,  to'  the  aid  of  their  Dorian  brethren, 
and  as  colonists,  to  the  aid  of  the  Peloponnesians  who  had  sent 
them  out,  and  joining  these  in  pulling  down  the  Athenian  empire. 
The  Athenians  would,  therefore,  do  well  to  unite  with  the  allies 
still  left  to  them,  and  to  make  a  stand  against  the  Syracusans ; 
especially  as  they,  the  Egestaeans,  were  prepared  to  furnish  money 
sufficient  for  the  war.  The  Athenians,  hearing  these  arguments 
constantly  repeated  in  their  assemblies  by  the  Egestaeans  and  their 
supporters,  voted  first  to  send  envoys  to  Egesta,  to  see  if  there  was 
really  the  money  that  they  talked  of  in  the  treasury  and  temples, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  ascertain  in  what  posture  was  the  war  with 
the  Selinuntines. 

2.    DEBATE  ON  THE   UNDERTAKING 

Thucydides,  VI,  8-10,  12-13 

Early  in  the  spring  of  the  following  summer  the  Athenian 
envoys  arrived  from  Sicily,  and  the  Egestaeans  with  them,  bring-, 
ing  sixty  talents  of  uncoined  silver,  as  a  month's  pay  for  sixty 
ships,  which  they  were  to  ask  to  have  sent  them.    The  Athenians 


378 


READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 


^  -c 


held  an  assembly,  and  after  hearing  from  the  Egestaeans  and  their 
own  envoys  a  report,  as  attractive  as  it  was  untrue,  upon  the  state 
of  affairs  generally,  and  in  particular  as  to  the  money,  of  which,  it 
was  said,  there  was  abundance  in  the  temples  and  the  treasury, 
voted  to  send  sixty  ships  to  Sicily,  under  the  command  of  Alcibi- 
ades,  son  of  Clinias,  Nicias,  son  of  Niceratus,  and  Lamachus,  son 
of  Xenophanes,  who  were  appointed  with  full  powers  ;  they  were 
to  help  the  Egestaeans  against  the  Selinuntines,  to  restore  Leon- 
tini  upon  gaining  any  advantage  in  the  war,  and  to  order  all  other 
.matters  in  Sicily  as  they  should  deem  best  for  the  interests  of 
Athens.  Five  days  after  this  a  second  assembly  was  held,  to  con- 
sider the  speediest  means  of  equipping  the  ships,  and  to  vote  what- 
ever else  might  be  required  by  the  generals  for  the  expedition  ; 
and  Nicias,  who  had  been  chosen  to  the  command  against  his  will, 
and  who  thought  that  the  state  was  not  well  advised,  but  upon  a 
slight  and  specious  pretext  was  aspiring  to  the  conquest  of  the 
whole  of  Sicily,  a  great  matter  to  achieve,  came  forward  in  the 
hope  of  diverting  the  Athenians  from  the  enterprise,  and  gave 
them  the  following  counsel :  — 
'f'  "Although  this  assembly  was  convened  to  consider  the  prepara- 
tions to  be  made  for  sailing  to  Sicily,  I  think,  notwithstanding, 
that  we  have  still  this  question  to  examine,  whether  it  be  better  to 
send  out  the  ships  at  all,  and  that  we  ought  not  to  give  so  little 
consideration  to  a  matter  of  such  moment,  or  let  ourselves  be  per- 
suaded by  foreigners  into  undertaking  a  war  with  which  we  have 
nothing  to  do.   .   .  . 

"  I  will,  therefore,  content  myself  with  showing  that  your  ardour 
is  out  of  season,  and  your  ambition  not  easy  of  accomplishment. 

"  I  affirm,  then,  that  you  leave  many  enemies  behind  you  here  to 
go  yonder  and  bring  more  back  with  you.  You  imagine,  perhaps, 
that  the  treaty  which  you  have  made  can  be  trusted  ;  a  treaty  that 
will  continue  to  exist  nominally,  as  long  as  you  keep  quiet  —  for 
nominal  it  has  become,  owing  to  the  practices  of  certain  men  here 
and  at  Sparta — but  which  in  the  event  of  a  serious  reverse  in  any 
quarter  would  not  delay  our  enemies  a  moment  in  attacking  us ; 
first,  because  the  convention  was  forced  upon  them  by  disaster 
and   was  less  honourable  to  them  than  to  us ;    and   secondly. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  379 

because  in  this  very  convention  there  are  many  points  that  are 
still  disputed.  Again,  some  of  the  most  powerful  states  have  never 
yet  accepted  the  arrangement  at  all.  Some  of  these  are  at  open 
war  with  us  ;  others  (as  the  Lacedaemonians  do  not  yet  move)  are 
restrained  by  truces  renewed  every  ten  days,  and  it  is  only  too 
probable  that  if  they  found  our  power  divided,  as  we  are  hurrying  to 
divide  it,  they  would  attack  us  vigorously  with  the  Siceliots,  whose 
alliance  they  would  have  in  the  past  valued  as  they  would  that  of 
few  others.  A  man  ought,  therefore,  to  consider  these  points,  and 
not  to  think  of  running  risks  with  a  country  placed  so  critically,  or 
of  grasping  at  another  empire  before  we  have  secured  the  one  we 
have  already ;  for  in  fact  the  Thracian  Chalcidians  have  been  all 
these  years  in  revolt  from  us  without  being  yet  subdued,  and  others 
on  the  continents  yield  us  but  a  doubtful  obedience.  Meanwhile 
the  Egestaeans,  our  allies,  have  been  wronged,  and  we  run  to  help 
them,  while  the  rebels  who  have  so  long  wronged  us  still  wait  for 
punishment. 

"And  yet  the  latter,  if  brought  under,  might  be  kept  under; 
while  the  Sicilians,  even  if  conquered,  are  too  far  off  and  too 
numerous  to  be  ruled  without  difficulty.  ... 

"  Our  struggle,  therefore,  if  we  are  wise,  will  not  be  for  the  barba- 
rian Egestaeans  in  Sicily,  but  how  to  defend  ourselves  most  effectu- 
ally against  the  oligarchical  machinations  of  Lacedaemon. 

"We  should  also  remember  that  we  are  but  now  enjoying  some 
respite  from  a  great  pestilence  and  from  war,  to  the  no  small  benefit 
of  our  estates  and  persons,  and  that  it  is  right  to  employ  these  at 
home  on  our  own  behalf,  instead  of  using  them  on  behalf  of  these 
exiles  whose  interest  it  is  to  lie  as  fairly  as  they  can,  who  do  noth- 
ing but  talk  themselves  and  leave  the  danger  to  others,  and  who 
if  they  succeed  will  show  no  proper  gratitude,  and  if  they  fail  will 
drag  down  their  friends  with  them.  And  if  there  be  any  man  here, 
overjoyed  at  being  chosen  to  command,  who  urges  you  to  make 
the  expedition,  merely  for  ends  of  his  own  —  especially  if  he  be 
still  too  young  to  command  —  who  seeks  to  be  admired  for  his 
stud  of  horses,  but  on  account  of  its  hea\y  expenses  hopes  for 
some  profit  from  his  appointment,  do  not  allow  such  an  one  to 
maintain  his  private  splendour  at  his  country's  risk,  but  remember 


38o  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

that  such  persons  injure  the  pubHc  fortune  while  they  squander 
their  own,  and  that  this  is  a  matter  of  importance,  and  not  for  a 
young  man  to  decide  or  hastily  to  take  in  hand. 

"  When  I  see  such  persons  now  sitting  here  at  the  side  of  that 
same  individual  and  summoned  by  him,  alarm  seizes  me  ;  and  I, 
in  my  turn,  summon  any  of  the  older  men  that  may  have  such  a 
person  sitting  next  him,  not  to  let  himself  be  shamed  down,  for 
fear  of  being  thought  a  coward  if  he  do  not  vote  for  war,  but,  re- 
membering how  rarely  success  is  got  by  wishing  and  how  often  by 
forecast,  to  leave  to  them  the  mad  dream  of  conquest,  and  as  a  true 
lover  of  his  country,  now  threatened  by  the  greatest  danger  in  its 
history,  to  hold  up  his  hand  on  the  other  side  ;  to  vote  that  the 
Siceliots  be  left  in  the  limits  now  existing  between  us,  limits  of 
which  no  one  can  complain  (the  Ionian  sea  for  the  coasting  voyage, 
and  the  Sicilian  across  the  open  main),  to  enjoy  their  own  posses- 
sions and  to  settle  their  own  quarrels  ;  that  the  Egestaeans,  for 
their  part,  be  told  to  end  by  themselves  with  the  Selinuntines  the 
war  which  they  began  without  consulting  the  Athenians  ;  and  that 
for  the  future  we  do  not  enter  into  alliance,  as  we  have  been  used 
to  do,  with  people  whom  we  must  help  in  their  need,  and  who  can 
never  help  us  in  ours." 

Thiicydides,  VI,  15-18 

By  far  the  warmest  advocate  of  the  expedition  was,  however, 
Alcibiades,  son  of  Clinias,  who  wished  to  thwart  Nicias  both  as 
his  political  opponent  and  also  because  of  the  attack  he  had  made 
upon  him  in  his  speech,  and  who  was,  besides,  exceedingly  ambi- 
tious of  a  command  by  which  he  hoped  to  reduce  Sicily  and  Car- 
thage, and  personally  to  gain  in  wealth  and  reputation  by  means 
of  his  successes.  For  the  position  he  held  among  the  citizens  led 
him  to  indulge  his  tastes  beyond  what  his  real  means  would  bear, 
both  in  keeping  horses  and  in  the  rest  of  his  expenditure  ;  and  this 
later  on  had  not  a  little  to  do  with  the  ruin  of  the  Athenian  state. 
Alarmed  at  the  greatness  of  his  license  in  his  own  life  and  habits, 
and  of  the  ambition  which  he  showed  in  all  things  soever  that  he 
undertook,  the  mass  of  the  people  set  him  down  as  a  pretender  to 
the  tyranny,  and  became  his  enemies;  and  although  publicly  his 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  381 

conduct  of  the  war  was  as  good  as  could  be  desired,  individually, 
his  habits  gave  offence  to  every  one,  and  caused  them  to  commit 
affairs  to  other  hands,  and  thus  before  long  to  ruin  the  city.   ,  .  . 

"What  I  know  is  that  persons  of  this  kind  and  all  others  that 
have  attained  to  any  distinction,  although  they  may  be  unpopu- 
lar in  their  lifetime  in  their  relations  with  their  fellow-men  and 
especially  with  their  equals,  leave  to  posterity  the  desire  of  claiming 
connexion  with  them  even  without  any  ground,  and  are  vaunted 
by  the  country  to  which  they  belonged,  not  as  strangers  or  ill-doers, 
but  as  fellow-countrymen  and  heroes.  Such  are  my  aspirations,  and 
however  I  am  abused  for  them  in  private,  the  question  is  whether 
any  one  manages  public  affairs  better  than  I  do.  Having  united 
the  most  powerful  states  of  Peloponnese,  without  great  danger  or 
expense  to  you,  I  compelled  the  Lacedaemonians  to  stake  their  all 
upon  the  issue  of  a  single  day  at  Mantinea ;  and  although  victori- 
ous in  the  battle,  they  have  never  since  fully  recovered  confidence. 

"  Thus  did  my  youth  and  so-called  monstrous  folly  find  fitting 
arguments  to  deal  with  the  power  of  the  Peloponnesians,  and  by 
its  ardour  win  their  confidence  and  prevail.  And  do  not  be  afraid 
of  my  youth  now,  but  while  I  am  still  in  its  flower,  and  Nicias 
appears  fortunate,  avail  yourselves  to  the  utmost  of  the  services  of 
us  both.  Neither  rescind  your  resolution  to  sail  to  Sicily,  on  the 
ground  that  you  would  be  going  to  attack  a  great  power.  The 
cities  in  Sicily  are  peopled  by  motley  rabbles,  and  easily  change 
their  institutions  and  adopt  new  ones  in  their  stead  ;  and  conse- 
quently the  inhabitants,  being  without  any  feeling  of  patriotism, 
are  not  provided  with  arms  for  their  persons,  and  have  not  regu- 
larly established  themselves  on  the  land  ;  every  man  thinks  that 
either  by  fair  words  or  by  party  strife  he  can  obtain  something  at 
the  public  expense,  and  then  in  the  event  of  a  catastrophe  settle 
in  some  other  country,  and  makes  his  preparations  accordingly. 
From  a  mob  like  this  you  need  not  look  for  either  unanimity  in 
counsel  or  concert  in  action  ;  but  they  will  probably  one  by  one 
come  in  as  they  get  a  fair  offer,  especially  if  they  are  torn  by  civil 
strife  as  we  are  told.  Moreover,  the  Siceliots  have  not  so  many 
heavy  infantry  as  they  boast ;  just  as  the  Hellenes  generally  did 
not  prove  so  numerous  as  each  state  reckoned  itself,  but  Hellas 


382  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

greatly  over-estimated  their  numbers,  and  has  hardly  had  an  ade- 
quate force  of  heavy  infantry  throughout  this  war.  The  states  in 
Sicily,  therefore,  from  all  that  I  can  hear,  will  be  found  as  I  say, 
and  I  have  not  pointed  out  all  our  advantages,  for  we  shall  have 
the  help  of  many  barbarians,  who  from  their  hatred  of  the  Syracu- 
sans  will  join  us  in  attacking  them  ;  nor  will  the  powers  at  home 
prove  any  hindrance,  if  you  judge  rightly.  Our  fathers  with  these 
very  adversaries,  which  it  is  said  we  shall  now  leave  behind  us 
when  we  sail,  and  the  Mede  as  their  enemy  as  well,  were  able  to 
win  the  empire,  depending  solely  on  their  superiority  at  sea.  The 
Peloponnesians  had  never  so  little  hope  against  us  as  at  present ; 
and  let  them  be  ever  so  sanguine,  although  strong  enough  to  in- 
vade our  country  even  if  we  stay  at  home,  they  can  never  hurt  us 
with  their  navy,  as  we  leave  one  of  our  own  behind  us  that  is  a 
match  for  them. 

"  In  this  state  of  things  what  reason  can  we  give  to  ourselves  for 
holding  back,  or  what  excuse  can  we  offer  to  our  allies  in  Sicily 
for  not  helping  them  ?  They  are  our  confederates,  and  we  are 
bound  to  assist  them,  without  objecting  that  they  have  not  assisted 
us.  ,  .  . 

"  Be  convinced  then  that  we  shall  augment  our  power  at  home 
by  this  adventure  abroad,  and  let  us  make  ihe  expedition,  and  so 
humble  the  pride  of  the  Peloponnesians  by  sailing  off  to  Sicily, 
and  letting  them  see  how  little  we  care  for  the  peace  that  we  are 
now  enjoying ;  and  at  the  same  time  we  shall  either  become  mas- 
ters, as  we  very  easily  may,  of  the  whole  of  Hellas  through  the 
accession  of  the  Sicilian  Hellenes,  or  in  any  case  ruin  the  Syra- 
cusans,  to  the  no  small  advantage  of  ourselves  and  our  allies.  The 
faculty  of  staying  if  successful,  or  of  returning,  will  be  secured  to 
us  by  our  navy,  as  we  shall  be  superior  at  sea  to  all  the  Siceliots 
put  together.  And  do  not  let  the  do-nothing  policy  which  Nicias 
advocates,  or  his  setting  of  the  young  against  the  old,  turn  you 
from  your  purpose,  but  in  the  good  old  fashion  by  which  our 
fathers,  old  and  young  together,  by  their  united  counsels  brought 
our  affairs  to  their  present  height,  do  you  endeavour  still  to  ad- 
vance them  ;  understanding  that  neither  youth  nor  old  age  can  do 
anything  the  one  without  the  other,  but  that  levity,  sobriety,  and 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  383 

deliberate  judgment  are  strongest  when  united,  and  that,  by  sink- 
ing into  inaction,  the  city,  like  everything  else,  will  wear  itself  out, 
and  its  skill  in  everything  'decay ;  while  each  fresh  struggle  will 
give  it  fresh  experience,  and  make  it  more  used  to  defend  itself 
not  in  word  but  in  deed.  In  short,  my  conviction  is  that  a  city  not 
inactive  by  nature  could  not  choose  a  quicker  way  to  ruin  itself 
than  by  suddenly  adopting  such  a  policy,  and  that  the  safest  rule 
of  life  is  to  take  one's  character  and  institutions  for  better  and  for 
worse,  and  to  live  up  to  them  as  closely  as  one  can." 

ThuiXiiidcs,  VI,  19-21,  23-24 

Nicias,  perceiving  that  it  would  be  now  useless  to  try  to  deter 
them  by  the  old  line  of  argument,  but  thinking  that  he  might  per- 
haps alter  their  resolution  by  the  extravagance  of  his  estimates, 
came  forward  a  second  time  and  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

"  I  see,  Athenians,  that  you  are  thoroughly  bent  upon  the  expe- 
dition, and  therefore  hope  that  all  will  turn  out  as  we  wish,  and 
proceed  to  give  you  my  opinion  at  the  present  juncture.  From  all 
that  I  hear  we  are  going  against  cities  that  are  great  and  not  sub- 
ject to  one  another,  or  in  need  of  change,  so  as  to  be  glad  to  pass 
from  enforced  servitude  to  an  easier  condition,  or  in  the  least  likely 
to  accept  our  rule  in  exchange  for  freedom  ;  and,  to  take  only  the 
Hellenic  towns,  they  are  very  numerous  for  one  island.  Besides 
Naxos  and  Catana,  which  I  expect  to  join  us  from  their  connexion 
with  Leontini,  there  are  seven  others  armed  at  all  points  just  like 
our  own  power,  particularly  Selinus  and  Syracuse,  the  chief  objects 
of  our  expedition.  These  are  full  of  heavy  infantry,  archers,  and 
darters,  have  galleys  in  abundance  and  crowds  to  man  them  ;  -  they 
have  also  money,  partly  in  the  hands  of  private  persons,  partly  in 
the  temples  at  Selinus,  and  at  Syracuse  first-fruits  from  some  of 
the  barbarians  as  well.  But  their  chief  advantage  over  us  lies 
in  the  number  of  their  horses,  and  in  the  fact  that  they  grow  their 
corn  at  home  instead  of  importing  it. 

"  Against  a  power  of  this  kind  it  will  not  do  to  have  merely  a 
weak  naval  armament,  but  we  shall  want  also  a  large  land  army  to 
sail  with  us,  if  we  are  to  do  anything  worthy  of  our  ambition,  and 
are  not  to  be  shut  out  from  the  country  by  a  numerous  cavalry.  .  .  . 


384  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

"  Indeed,  even  if  we  leave  Athens  with  a  force  not  only  equal  to 
that  of  the  enemy  except  in  the  number  of  heavy  infantry  in  the 
field,  but  even  at  all  points  superior  to  him,  we  shall  still  find  it 
difficult  to  conquer  Sicily  or  save  ourselves.  We  must  not  disguise 
from  ourselves  that  we  go  to  found  a  city  among  strangers  and 
enemies,  and  that  he  who  undertakes  such  an  enterprise  should  be 
prepared  to  become  master  of  the  country  the  first  day  he  lands, 
or  failing  in  this  to  find  everything  hostile  to  him.  Fearing  this, 
and  knowing  that  we  shall  have  need  of  much  good  counsel  and 
more  good  fortune  —  a  hard  matter  for  mortal  men  to  aspire  to  — 
I  wish  as  far  as  may  be  to  make  myself  independent  of  fortune 
before  sailing,  and  when  I  do  sail,  to  be  as  safe  as  a  strong  force 
can  make  me.  This  I  believe  to  be  surest  for  the  country  at  large, 
and  safest  for  us  who  are  to  go  on  the  expedition.  If  any  one 
thinks  differently  I  resign  to  him  my  command." 

Plutarch,  Nicias,  12 

It  was  Alcibiades,  at  any  rate,  whom  when  the  Egestean  and 
Leontine  ambassadors  arrived  and  urged  the  Athenians  to  make 
an  expedition  against  Sicily,  Nicias  opposed,  and  by  whose  per- 
suasions and  ambition  he  found  himself  overborne,  who,  even 
before  the  people  could  be  assembled,  had  preoccupied  and  cor- 
rupted their  judgment  with  hopes  and  with  speeches  ;  insomuch 
that  the  young  men  at  their  sports,  and  the  old  men  in  their  work- 
shops, and  sitting  together  on  the  benches,  would  be  drawing  maps 
of  Sicily,  and  making  charts  showing  the  seas,  the  harbours,  and 
general  character  of  the  coast  of  the  island  opposite  Africa.  For 
they  -made  not  Sicily  the  end  of  the  war  but  rather  its  starting- 
point  and  headquarters  from  whence  they  might  carry  it  to  the 
Carthaginians,  and  possess  themselves  of  Africa,  and  of  the  seas 
as  far  as  the  pillars  of  Hercules.  The  bulk  of  the  people,  there- 
fore, pressing  this  way,  Nicias,  who  opposed  them,  found  but  few 
supporters,  nor  those  of  much  influence  ;  for  the  men  of  substance, 
fearing  lest  they  should  seem  to  shun  the  public  charges  and  ship- 
money,  were  quiet  against  their  inclination  ;  nevertheless  he  did 
not  tire  nor  give  it  up,  but  even  after  the  Athenians  decreed  a  war 
and  chose  him  in  the  first  place  general,  together  with  Alcibiades 


THE  PELOPOxNNESIAN  WAR  3^5 

and  Lamachus,  when  they  were  again  assembled,  he  stood  up, 
dissuaded  them,  and  protested  against  the  decision,  and  laid  the 
blame  on  Alcibiades,  charging  him  with  going  about  to  involve 
the  city  in  foreign  dangers  and  difficulties,  merely  with  a  view  to 
his  own  private  lucre  and  ambition.  Yet  it  came  to  nothing. 
Nicias,  because  of  his  experience,  was  looked  upon  as  the  fitter 
for  the  employment,  and  his  wariness  with  the  bravery  of  Alcibi- 
ades, and  the  easy  temper  of  Lamachus,  all  compounded  together, 
promised  such  security,  that  he  did  but  confirm  the  resolution. 
Demostratus,  who,  of  the  popular  leaders,  was  the  one  who  chiefly 
pressed  the  Athenians  to  the  expedition,  stood  up  and  said  he 
would  stop  the  mouth  of  Nicias  from  urging  any  more  excuses, 
and  moved  that  the  generals  should  have  absolute  power,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  to  order  and  to  act  as  they  thought  best ;  and 
this  vote  the  people  passed. 

In  the  eyes  of  many  this  undertaking  was  not  an  innovation  or 
a  further  greed  for  conquest  but  the  consistent  development  of  a 
policy  of  expansion  toward  the  west  which,  according  to  Plutarch, 
began  in  the  time  of  Pericles. 

We  know  that  Athens  had  allied  herself  with  Corcyra  (on  the 
route),  had  sent  a  colony  to  Thurii,  and  had  formed  alliances  with 
some  Sicilian  cities.^ 

Plutarch,  Alcibiades,  17 

The  Athenians,  even  in  the  lifetime  of  Pericles,  had  already 
cast  a  longing  eye  upon  Sicily ;  but  did  not  attempt  anything  till 
after  his  death.  Then,  under  pretence  of  aiding  their  confederates, 
they  sent  succours  upon  all  occasions  to  those  who  were  oppressed 
by  the  Syracusans,  preparing  the  way  for  sending  over  a  greater 
force.  But  Alcibiades  was  the  person  who  inflamed  this  desire  of 
theirs  to  the  height,  and  prevailed  with  them  no  longer  to  proceed 
secretly,  and  by  little  and  little,  in  their  design,  but  to  sail  out  with 
a  great  fleet,  and  undertake  at  once  to  make  themselves  masters 
of  the  island.    He  possessed  the  people  with  great  hopes,  and  he 

1  See  further,  Cornford,  "  Thucydides  IMythistoricus." 


386  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

himself  entertained  yet  greater ;  and  the  conquest  of  Sicily,  which 
was  the  utmost  bound  of  their  ambition,  was  but  the  mere  outset 
of  his  expectation.  Nicias  endeavoured  to  divert  the  people  from 
the  expedition,  by  representing  to  them  that  the  taking  of  Syra- 
cuse would  be  a  work  of  great  difficulty ;  but  Alcibiades  dreamed 
of  nothing  less  than  the  conquest  of  Carthage  and  Libya,  and  by 
the  accession  of  these  conceiving  himself  at  once  made  master  of 
Italy  and  Peloponnesus,  seemed  to  look  upon  Sicily  as  little  more 
than  a  magazine  for  the  war.  The  young  men  were  soon  elevated 
with  these  hopes,  and  listened  gladly  to  those  of  riper  years,  who 
talked  wonders  of  the  countries  they  were  going  to ;  so  that  you 
might  see  great  numbers  sitting  in  the  wrestling  grounds  and 
public  places,  drawing  on  the  ground  the  figure  of  the  island  and 
the  situation  of  Libya  and  Carthage.  Socrates  the  philosopher 
and  Meton  the  astrologer  are  said,  however,  never  to  have  hoped 
for  any  good  to  the  commonwealth  from  this  war. 

3.  PREPARATIONS 
T/iHcydides,  VI,  25-26 

With  this  Nicias  concluded,  thinking  that  he  should  either  dis- 
gust the  Athenians  by  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking,  or,  if 
obliged  to  sail  on  the  expedition,  would  thus  do  so  in  the  safest 
way  possible.  The  Athenians,  however,  far  from  having  their  taste 
for  the  voyage  taken  away  by  the  burdensomeness  of  the  prepara- 
tions, became  more  eager  for  it  than  ever ;  and  just  the  contrary 
took  place  of  what  Nicias  had  thought,  as  it  was  held  that  he  had 
given  good  advice,  and  that  the  expedition  would  be  the  safest  in 
the  world.  All  alike  fell  in  love  with  the  enterprise.  The  older 
men  thought  that  they  would  either  subdue  the  places  against  which 
they  were  to  sail,  or  at  all  events,  with  so  large  a  force,  meet  with 
no  disaster ;  those  in  the  prime  of  life  felt  a  longing  for  foreign 
sights  and  spectacles,  and  had  no  doubt  that  they  should  come  safe 
home  again  ;  while  the  idea  of  the  common  people  and  the  soldiery 
was  to  earn  wages  at  the  moment,  and  make  conquests  that  would 
supply  a  never-ending  fund  of  pay  for  the  future.  With  this  en- 
thusiasm of  the  majority,  the  few  that  liked  it  not,  feared  to  appear 
unpatriotic  by  holding  up  their  hands  against  it,  and  so  kept  quiet. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  387 

At  last  one  of  the  Athenians  came  forward  and  called  upon  Nicias 
and  told  him  that  he  ought  not  to  make  excuses  or  put  them  off,  but 
say  at  once  before  them  all  what  forces  the  Athenians  should  vote 
him.  Upon  this  he  said,  not  without  reluctance,  that  he  would  advise 
upon  that  matter  more  at  leisure  with  his  colleagues  ;  as  far  however 
as  he  could  see  at  present,  they  must  sail  with  at  least  one  hundred 
galleys — the  Athenians  providing  as  many  transports  as  they  might 
determine,  and  sending  for  others  from  the  allies  —  not  less  than 
five  thousand  heavy  infantry  in  all,  Athenian  and  allied,  and  if  pos- 
sible more  ;  and  the  rest  of  the  armament  in  proportion  ;  archers 
from  home  and  from  Crete,  and  slingers,  and  whatever  else  might 
seem  desirable,  being  got  ready  by  the  generals  and  taken  with  them. 

Upon  hearing  this  the  Athenians  at  once  voted  that  the  generals 
should  have  full  powers  in  the  matter  of  the  numbers  of  the  army 
and  of  the  expedition  generally,  to  do  as  they  judged  best  for  the 
interests  of  Athens.  After  this  the  preparations  began  ;  messages 
being  sent  to  the  allies  and  the  rolls  drawn  up  at  home.  And  as 
the  city  had  just  recovered  from  the  plague  and  the  long  war,  and 
a  number  of  young  men  had  grown  up  and  capital  had  accumulated 
by  reason  of  the  truce,  everything  was  the  more  easily  provided. 

4.  MUTILATION  OF  THE  IIERM/E  AND   BURLESQUE  OF 
THE  MYSTERIES 

The  incident  of  the  mutilation  of  the  Hermae  was  one  of  the 
famous  mysteries  of  antiquity.  Bury's  view  that  it  was  perpe- 
trated by  the  Corinthians,  who  had  the  most  to  lose  by  the  Athenian 
ascendancy  in  Sicily,  has  much  to  recommend  it.  It  was  not  only 
the  superstitious  —  or  very  religious  —  Athenians  who  were  scru- 
pulous about  all  religious  matters  before  a  great  undertaking. 

Any  incident  of  ill-omen  could  not  fail  to  cast  a  shadow  on  the 
joyous  enthusiasm  about  the  expedition. 

Strictly  speaking,  the  mutilation  of  the  Hermae  and  the  burlesque 
of  the  mysteries  were  unconnected  episodes,  but  they  became  closely 
associated  and  confused  in  men's  minds,  giving  rise  to  the  idea 
that  the  same  people  were  necessarily  responsible  for  both. 


^ 


388  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Thiicydides,  VI,  27-29 

In  the  midst  of  these  preparations  all  the  stone  Hermae  in  the 
city  of  Athens,  that  is  to  say  the  customary  square  figures,  so  com- 
mon in  the  doorways  of  private  houses  and  temples,  had  in  one 
night  most  of  them  their  faces  mutilated.  No  one  knew  who  had 
done  it,  but  large  public  rewards  were  offered  to  find  the  authors  ; 
and  it  was  further  voted  that  any  one  who  knew  of  any  other  act 
of  impiety  having  been  committed  should  come  and  give  informa- 
tion without  fear  of  consequences,  whether  he  were  citizen,  alien, 
or  slave.  The  matter  was  taken  up  the  more  seriously,  as  it  was 
thought  to  be  ominous  for  the  expedition,  and  part  of  a  conspiracy 
to  bring  about  a  revolution  and  to  upset  the  democracy. 

Information  was  given  accordingly  by  some  resident  aliens  and 
body  servants,  not  about  the  Hermae  but  about  some  previous  mu- 
tilations of  other  images  perpetrated  by  young  men  in  a  drunken 
frolic,  and  of  mock  celebrations  of  the  mysteries,  averred  to  take 
place  in  private  houses.  Alcibiades  being  implicated  in  this  charge, 
it  was  taken  hold  of  by  those  who  could  least  endure  him,  because 
he  stood  in  the  way  of  their  obtaining  the  undisturbed  direction  of 
the  people,  and  who  thought  that  if  he  were  once  removed  the  first 
place  would  be  theirs.  These  accordingly  magnified  the  matter  and 
loudly  proclaimed  that  the  affair  of  the  mysteries  and  the  mutila- 
tion of  the  Hermae  were  part  and  parcel  of  a  scheme  to  overthrow 
the  democracy,  and  that  nothing  of  all  this  had  been  done  without 
Alcibiades  ;  the  proofs  alleged  being  the  general  and  undemocratic 
license  of  his  life  and  habits, 

Alcibiades  repelled  on  the  spot  the  charges  in  question,  and  also 
before  going  on  the  expedition,  the  preparations  for  which  were 
now  complete,  offered  to  stand  his  trial,  that  it  might  be  seen 
whether  he  was  guilty  of  the  acts  imputed  to  him  ;  desiring  to  be 
punished  if  found  guilty,  but,  if  acquitted,  to  take  the  command. 

Andocides  the  famous  orator,  who  was  accused  of  being  in- 
volved, relates  in  this  speech,  "On  the  Mysteries,"  what  he  knows 
of  both  incidents  and  of  Alcibiades's  connection  with  them. 

The  Mysteries  appear  to  have  been  religious  dramas  something 
like  the  miracle  and  the  morality  plays  of  the  Middle  Ages  in 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  389 

which  probably  a  representation  of  the  rape  of  Persephone  was 
given.  Details  are  very  few,  owing  to  the  fact  that  none  but  the 
initiated  could  share  therein.  The  fearful  sacrilege  involved  in  a 
burlesque  of  this  religious  drama  caused  a  tremendous  scandal.  At 
his  trial  Andocides  brought  forward  many  witnesses  to  testify 
about  the  affair, 

Andocides,  De  Mysteriis.  11 -18 

An  assembly  was  being  held  by  request  of  the  generals  for  Sicily, 
—  Nicias,  Lamachus  and  Alcibiades,  and  the  trireme  of  the  admiral 
Lamachus  was  already  outside  the  harbor  when  Pythonicus  arose 
in  the  meeting  and  said  :  "  Athenians,  you  are  sending  out  an 
army  and  this  great  expedition,  and  you  are  going  to  begin  a  peril- 
ous campaign.  Yet  I  shall  bring  you  evidence  that  your  general, 
Alcibiades,  has  taken  part  in  performances  of  the  mysteries  in  a 
private  house  with  the  assistance  of  others,  and  if  you  vote  immu- 
nity to  the  man  for  whom  I  ask  it,  a  servant  of  one  of  the  men 
here  present,  although  uninitiated,  will  recite  the  mysteries  to  you  ; 
and  if  I  am  not  telling  the  truth,  deal  with  me  as  you  will," 

When  Alcibiades  disputed  this  vigorously  and  denied  the  state- 
ment, the  presiding  officers  voted  to  have  the  uninitiated  withdraw, 
and  to  go  themselves  for  the  lad  whom  Pythonicus  mentioned. 
And  they  went  and  brought  a  servant  of  Archebiades  the  son  of 
Polemarchus  ;  Andromachus  was  his  name.  When  they  had  voted 
immunity  for  him,  he  said  that  the  mysteries  were  habitually  per- 
formed in  the  house  of  Pulytion  ;  Alcibiades  and  Niciades  and 
Meletus  were  the  actors,  but  others  were  present  and  witnessed  the 
performances ;  and  slaves  too  were  present,  himself  and  his  brother 
and  Icesius  the  flute  player  and  Meletus's  slave. 

This  man  was  the  first  witness  to  this  effect  and  he  gave  in  the 
list  of  the  following  men.  Of  these  Polystratus  was  arrested  and 
put  to  death,  but  the  others  escaped  and  you  passed  sentence  of 
death  against  them. 

Names  given  by  Andromachus  : 

Alcibiades,  Niciades,  Meletus,  Archebiades,  Archippus,  Diog- 
enes,  Polystratus,  Aristomenes,  CEonias,   Panaetius. 


390  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

The  first  information  given  against  these  men,  gentlemen  of  the 
jury,  was  this  of  Andromachus.    Now  please  call  Diognetus. 

Were  you  a  commissioner,  Diognetus,  when  Pythonicus  brought 
the  charge  in  the  assembly  against  Alcibiades  ?    "I  was." 

Then  do  you  know  that  Andromachus  gave  information  about 
the  performances  in  Pulytion's  house?    "I  do." 

Are  these  then  the  names  of  the  men  against  whom  he  has 
informed  ?    "  They  are." 

A  second  piece  of  information  was  brought.  There  was  a  metic, 
Teucer,  here  who  fled  secretly  to  Megara  and  from  there  he  offered 
the  senate,  if  they  would  give  him  protection,  to  furnish  informa- 
tion both  about  the  mysteries  in  which  he  had  taken  part,  giving 
the  names  of  the  others  who  took  part  with  him,  and  also  to  tell 
whatever  he  knew  about  the  mutilation  of  the  Hermas.  When  the 
senate  had  voted,  —  for  it  had  full  power,  —  they  went  to  Megara 
for  him,  and  when  he  was  promised  immunity,  he  denounced  his 
companions.  These  also,  in  consequence  of  Teucer's  evidence  all 
fied.    Now  please  read  their  names. 

Names  of  those  denounced  by  Teucer : 

Phaedrus,  Gniphonides,  Isonomus,  Hephsestodorus,  Cephiso- 
dorus,  himself,  Diognetus,  Smindurides,  Philocrates,  Antiphon, 
Tisarchus,  Pantacles. 

Remember,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  that  they  admit  all  these 
charges. 

A  third  testimony  was  given.  The  wife  of  Alcmaeonides,  who 
had  also  been  the  wife  of  Damon,  by  name  Agariste,  gave  informa- 
tion that  Alcibiades  and  Axiochus  and  Adimantus  celebrated  the 
mysteries  in  the  house  of  Charmides  near  the  temple  of  Olympian 
Zeus.    All  these  fled  as  a  result  of  the  testimony. 

There  was  still  one  more  piece  of  evidence.  Lydus,  slave  of 
Pherecles  of  Themacus,  testified  that  the  mysteries  were  performed 
in  the  house  of  Pherecles  his  master  in  Themacus.  He  denounced 
the  others  and  said  that  my  father  was  present,  but  that  he  was 
asleep  with  his  face  covered.  Speusippus,  a  senator,  proposed  to 
hand  them  over  to  the  proper  court.    Then  my  father  furnished 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  39 1 

securities  and  indicted  Speusippus  for  illegal  procedure  and  carried 
the  case  through  before  a  court  of  six  thousand  Athenians,  and 
Speusippus  did  not  get  even  two  hundred  votes  out  of  that  large 
number.  The  one  who  above  all  others  entreated  and  induced  my 
father  to  stand  trial  was  myself,  and  then  the  rest  of  his  relatives 
also  urged  him. 

Please  call  Callias  and  Stephanus,  and  also  Philippus  and  Alex- 
ippus,  for  these  are  the  kinsmen  of  Acumenus  and  Autocrator 
who  fled  in  consequence  of  Lydus's  information.  Autocrator  is  the 
nephew  of  the  former  and  Acumenus  the  uncle  of  the  latter.  It  is 
natural  that  they  should  hate  the  man  who  drove  them  out  and  they 
are  likely  to  know  through  whose  efforts  they  went  into  exile.  Look 
into  the  faces  of  these  jurymen  and  tell  them  if  I  speak  the  truth. ^ 

Andocides,  De  Alysteriis,  34-45 

Mutilation'  of  the  Herm/e 

In  discussing  the  mutilation  of  the  statues  and  the  information 
given,  I  will  proceed  as  I  promised  you,  for  I  shall  tell  you  the 
whole  affair  from  the  beginning.  When  Teucer  came  from 
Megara,  after  obtaining  immunity  he  testified  what  he  knew  about 
the  Mysteries,  and  of  those  who  mutilated  the  Hermse  he  denounced 
eighteen  men.  When  these  had  been  indicted,  some  of  them 
escaped  but  others  were  arrested  and  put  to  death  on  Teucer's 
testimony. 

Please  read  their  names. 

Teucer  denounced  in  the  matter  of  the  Hermae  :  Euctemon, 
Glaucippus,  Eurymachus,  Polyeuctus,  Plato,  Antidorus,  Charippus, 
Theodorus,  Alcisthenes,  Menestratus,  Eryximachus,  Euphiletus, 
Eurydamas,  Pherecles,  Meletus,  Timanthes,  Archidamus,  Telenicus. 

Of  these  men  some  have  returned  and  are  here,  and  those  who 
have  died  have  many  relatives  in  Athens  :  let  any  of  these  who 
pleases  rise  during  my  speech  and  prove  if  he  can  that  anyone  of 
these  went  into  exile  or  was  put  to  death  through  my  efforts. 

After  these  occurrences,  Pisander  and  Charicles,  who  were  mem- 
bers of  the  commission  of  inquiry,  regarded  at  that  time  as  very 
well  disposed  to  the  democracy,  said  that  these  outrages  were  not 

1  Addressed  to  witnesses. 


392  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

the  work  of  a  few  men  but  were  done  with  a  view  to  the  overthrow 
of  the  democracy,  and  that  the  investigation  should  continue  and 
not  be  given  up.  The  city  was  in  such  terror  that  whenever  the 
herald  gave  notice  for  the  senate  to  go  to  the  council  house  and  took 
down  the  flag,  at  the  same  signal  the  senate  came  to  the  senate- 
house  and  everyone  in  the  market-place  fled  from  it  in  the  fear 
that  he  might  be  arrested. 

Encouraged  by  the  evil  plight  of  the  city,  Dioclides  brought 
information  before  the  senate,  alleging  that  he  knew  those  who  had 
mutilated  the  Hermae  and  that  there  were  about  three  hundred  of 
them,  and  stated  how  he  had  gained  a  knowledge  of  the  affair. 
I  ask  you  to  pay  good  attention  to  these  matters,  gentlemen  of  the 
jury,  and  recall  them  with  me  to  see  if  my  statements  prove  to  be 
true,  and  inform  each  other,  for  in  your  presence  his  statements 
were  made  and  you  are  my  witnesses  in  the  case. 

He  said  that  he  had  a  slave  at  Laurium,  and  that  he  had  occa- 
sion to  go  for  a  payment  due  him.  Getting  up  very  early  he  made 
a  mistake  about  the  hour  and  started  out,  as  there  was  a  full  moon. 
When  he  had  come  to  the  gateway  of  Dionysus,  he  saw  several 
persons  descending  from  the  Odeum  into  the  orchestra.  Afraid  of 
them,  he  drew  into  the  shadow,  and  crouched  down  between  the 
pillar  and  the  column  with  the  bronze  statue  of  the  general.  He 
said  he  saw  men  to  about  the  number  of  three  hundred,  standing 
in  groups  of  about  fifteen  or  twenty,  and  seeing  their  faces  by  the 
moonlight  he  recognized  most  of  them. 

In  the  first  place,  judges,  he  took  this  fiction  to  work  on  —  a 
disgraceful  business  —  in  order  that  it  might  rest  with  him  to  in- 
clude in  this  list  any  Athenian  he  pleased,  or  at  pleasure  to  exempt 
him.  He  said  that  after  seeing  this  he  went  on  to  Laurium,  and 
on  the  next  day  heard  that  the  Hermse  had  been  mutilated,  and 
that  he,  therefore,  knew  at  once  that  it  was  the  work  of  these  men. 

When  he  got  back  to  the  city,  he  said,  he  found  commissioners 
were  already  chosen  and  a  reward  of  one  hundred  minae  announced. 
He  saw  Euphemus,  brother  of  Callias  son  of  Telecles,  sitting  in  a 
smithy,  took  him  to  the  temple  of  Hephaestus  and  told  him  what 
I  have  told  you,  namely,  that  he  had  seen  us  on  the  preceding 
night.    Now,  he  said,  he  had  no  wish  to  obtain  money  from  the 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  393 

state  rather  than  from  us,  provided  that  he  might  gain  our  friend- 
ship. Euphemus  answered  that  he  was  grateful  to  him  for  the 
information,  and  urged  him  to  Iiave  the  kindness  to  come  to  Leo- 
goras's  house,  "  That  you  and  I  may  confer  there  with  Andocides 
and  the  other  persons  in  question." 

The  next  day,  he  said,  he  came  there  and  was  just  knocking  on 
the  door  when  my  father  happened  to  be  coming  out,  and  said 
"Is  it  you  our  friends  are  expecting.?  Well,  one  ought  not  to  re- 
ject such  friends" — and  with  these  words  he  was  gone.  It  was 
in  this  way  he  sought  to  ruin  my  father,  by  making  him  seem  an 
accomplice.  He  stated  that  we  had  said  we  had  decided  to  offer 
two  talents  of  silver  to  him  instead  of  the  hundred  minse  from  the 
state,  and  that  if  we  should  attain  our  ends,  he  would  be  one  of 
us,  and  pledges  should  be  exchanged. 

He  answered,  as  he  alleged,  that  he  would  think  the  matter  over, 
and  we  told  him  to  come  to  the  house  of  Callias  son  of  Telecles, 
that  he  might  be  present  too.  And  thus  he  tried  to  ruin  my 
brother-in-law  also.  He  said  he  went  to  Callias's  house,  and  con- 
cluded an  agreement  with  us  and  gave  us  pledges  on  the  Acropo- 
lis, and  that  we  after  promising  to  give  him  the  money  at  the 
beginning  of  the  month  failed  to  keep  our  word  and  did  not  pay 
it,  therefore  he  had  come  to  give  information  about  the  mutilation 
of  the  statues. 

This  then,  judges,  was  the  information  he  brought  the  senate. 
He  gave  in  the  names  of  the  men  whom  he  said  he  recognized, 
forty-two  in  all,  first  Mantitheus  and  Apsephion,  senators  who  were 
sitting  before  him,  and  then  the  others.  Pisander  rose  and  said 
it  was  necessary  to  annul  the  decree  passed  under  Scamandrius 
and  put  the  accused  to  the  torture,  that  night  might  not  come  on 
before  they  found  out  all  the  guilt}-  men.  The  senate  applauded  this. 

Mantitheus  and  Apsephion  when  they  heard  this  seated  them- 
selves at  the  hearth,  beseeching  them  not  to  put  them  to  the 
torture  but  to  allow  them  to  give  bail  and  have  a  trial.  With  diffi- 
culty they  got  permission,  and  when  they  had  furnished  securities 
they  mounted  their  horses  and  went  as  deserters  to  the  enemy, 
leaving  the  bondsmen,  who  became  liable  to  the  same  penalties  as 
those  for  whom  they  had  become  sureties. 


394  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

The  senate  retired  and  conferred  in  private,  had  us  seized  and 
put  in  the  pillory.  Then  they  summoned  the  generals  and  ordered 
them  to  proclaim  that  those  Athenians  who  lived  in  the  city  should 
proceed  under  arms  to  the  market-place,  those  at  the  Long  Walls 
to  the  Theseum,  those  in  the  Piraeus  to  the  market-place  of  Hippo- 
damus  ;  that  before  night  the  knights  should  sound  the  trumpet-call 
to  the  Anaceum  ;  that  the  senate  should  go  to  the  Acropolis  and 
sleep  there  ;  and  that  the  presidents  should  sleep  in  the  Rotunda. 

The  Boeotians  who  had  found  out  the  state  of  affairs  had  marched 
down  and  were  on  the  frontier.  And  Dioclides,  the  cause  of  all 
these  evils,  was  crowned  and  escorted  in  a  chariot  to  the  town-hall, 
and  given  a  banquet  as  though  he  had  been  saviour  of  the  city. 

The  name  of  Alcibiades  does  not  appear  officially  in  connection 
with  the  case  about  the  Herm^.  He  was,  however,  accused  on  the 
former  charge,  but  went  off  on  the  expedition  without  having  to 
stand  trial.  According  to  Thucydides  he  volunteered  to  do  so ; 
according  to  Plutarch  he  was  condemned  for  contempt  of  court 
and  his  goods  confiscated. 

Fragments  of  an  inscription  survive,  giving  an  inventory  of  his 
personal  effects,  which  were  sold — household  furniture,  slaves,  and 
other  property.    (See  Hicks  and  Hill,  72.) 

Plutarch,  Alcibiades^  22 

The  information  against  him  was  conceived  in  this  form  :  — 
"  Thessalus,  the  son  of  Cimon,  of  the  township  of  Laciadae,  lays 
information  that  Alcibiades,  the  son  of  Clinias  of  the  township 
of  the  Scambonidae,  has  committed  a  crime  against  the  goddesses 
Demeter  and  Persephone,  by  representing  in  derision  the  holy 
mysteries,  and  showing  them  to  his  companions  in  his  own  house. 
Where,  being  habited  in  such  robes  as  are  used  by  the  chief  priest 
when  he  shows  the  holy  things,  he  named  himself  the  chief  priest, 
Pulytion  the  torch-bearer,  and  Theodorus,  of  the  township  of 
Phegaea,  the  herald  ;  and  saluted  the  rest  of  his  company  as  Initi- 
ates and  Novices,  all  which  was  done  contrary  to  the  laws  and 
institutions  of  the  Eumolpidae,  and  the  heralds  and  priests  of  the 
temple  at  Eleusis." 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  395 

He  was  condemned  as  contumacious  upon  his  not  appearing, 
his  property  confiscated,  and  it  was  decreed  that  all  the  priests  and 
priestesses  should  solemnly  curse  him.  But  one  of  them,  Theano, 
the  daughter  of  Menon,  of  the  township  of  Agraule,  is  said  to  have 
opposed  that  part  of  the  decree,  saying  that  her  holy  office  obliged 
her  to  make  prayers,  but  not  execrations. 

5.  THE  DEPARTURE  OF  THE  EXPEDITION 

The  brilliant  hopes  with  which  the  expedition  started  out  form 
a  striking  contrast  to  the  consequences  —  the  lack  of  harmony 
among  the  leaders,  the  wearing  delays  and  postponements,  the 
failure  to  make  use  of  what  good  opportunities  presented  them- 
selves, the  discouraging  series  of  reverses,  the  broken  health  of 
Nicias,  the  pathetic  attempts  at  conquest,  the  disheartening  retreats, 
and,  finally,  the  wholesale  butchery  of  the  Athenians. 

Thinydides,  VI,  30-32 

After  this  the  departure  for  Sicily  took  place,  it  being  now  about 
midsummer.  Most  of  the  allies,  with  the  corn  transports  and  the 
smaller  craft  and  the  rest  of  the  expedition,  had  already  received 
orders  to  muster  at  Corcyra,  to  cross  the  Ionian  sea  from  thence  in 
a  body  to  the  lapygian  promontory.  But  the  Athenians  themselves, 
and  such  of  their  allies  as  happened  to  be  with  them,  went  down 
to  Piraeus  j.ipon  a  day  appointed  at  daybreak,  and  began  to  man  the 
ships  for  putting  out  to  sea.  With  them  also  went  down  the  whole 
population,  one  may  say,  of  the  city,  both  citizens  and  foreigners  ; 
the  inhabitants  of  the  country  each  escorting  those  that  belonged 
to  them,  their  friends,  their  relatives,  or  their  sons,  with  hope  and 
lamentation  upon  their  way,  as  they  thought  of  the  conquests  which 
they  hoped  to  make,  or  of  the  friends  whom  they  might  never  see 
again,  considering  the  long  voyage  which  they  were  going  to  make 
from  their  country.  Indeed,  at  this  moment,  when  they  were  now 
upon  the  point  of  parting  from  one  another,  the  danger  came  more 
home  to  them  than  when  they  voted  for  the  expedition  ;  although 
the  strength  of  the  armament,  and  the  profuse  provision  which  they 
remarked   in  every  department,  was  a  sight  that  could   not  but 


396  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

comfort  them.  As  for  the  foreigners  and  the  rest  of  the  crowd,  they 
simply  went  to  see  a  sight  worth  looking  at  and  passing  all  belief. 

Indeed  this  armament  that  first  sailed  out  was  by  far  the  most 
costly  and  splendid  Hellenic  force  that  had  ever  been  sent  out  by  a 
single  city  up  to  that  time.  In  mere  number  of  ships  and  heavy 
infantry  that  against  Epidaurus  under  Pericles,  and  the  same  when 
going  against  Potidaea  under  Hagnon,  was  not  inferior  ;  containing 
as  it  did  four  thousand  Athenian  heavy  infantry,  three  hundred 
horse,  and  one  hundred  galleys  accompanied  by  fifty  Lesbian  and 
Chian  vessels  and  many  allies  besides.  But  these  were  sent  upon  a 
short  voyage  and  with  a  scanty  equipment.  The  present  expedition 
was  formed  in  contemplation  of  a  long  term  of  service  by  land  and 
sea  alike,  and  was  furnished  with  ships  and  troops  so  as  to  be  ready 
for  either  as  required.  The  fleet  had  been  elaborately  equipped  at 
great  cost  to  the  captains  and  the  state  ;  the  treasury  giving  a 
drachma  a  day  to  each  seaman,  and  providing  empty  ships,  sixty 
men  of  war  and  forty  transports,  and  manning  these  with  the  best 
crews  obtainable  ;  while  the  captains  gave  a  bounty  in  addition  to  the 
pay  from  the  treasury  to  the  tJirajiitcE  and  crews  generally,  besides 
spending  lavishly  upon  figure-heads  and  equipments,  and  one  and 
all  making  the  utmost  exertions  to  enable  their  own  ships  to  excel 
in  beauty  and  fast  sailing.  Meanwhile  the  land  forces  had  been 
picked  from  the  best  muster-rolls,  and  vied  with  each  other  in 
paying  great  attention  to  their  arms  and  personal  accoutrements. 

From  this  resulted  not  only  a  rivalry  among  themselves  in  their 
different  departments,  but  an  idea  among  the  rest  of  the  Hellenes 
that  it  was  more  a  display  of  power  and  resources  than  an  armament 
against  an  enemy.  For  if  any  one  had  counted  up  the  public  ex- 
penditure of  the  state,  and  the  private  outlay  of  individuals  —  that 
is  to  say,  the  sums  which  the  state  had  already  spent  upon  the  ex- 
pedition and  was  sending  out  in  the  hands  of  the  generals,  and 
those  which  individuals  had  expended  upon  their  personal  outfit, 
or  as  captains  of  galleys  had  laid  out  and  were  still  to  lay  out  upon 
their  vessels  ;  and  if  he  had  added  to  this  the  journey  money  which 
each  was  likely  to  have  provided  himself  with,  independently  of  the 
pay  from  the  treasury,  for  a  voyage  of  such  length,  and  what  the 
soldiers  or  traders  took  with  them  for  the  purpose  of  exchange  —  it 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  397 

would  have  been  found  that  many  talents  in  all  were  being  taken 
out  of  the  city.  Indeed  the  expedition  became  not  less  famous 
for  its  wonderful  boldness  and  for  the  splendour  of  its  appear- 
ance, than  for  its  overwhelming  strength  as  compared  with  the 
peoples  against  whom  it  was  directed,  and  for  the  fact  that  this 
was  the  longest  passage  from  home  hitherto  attempted,  and  the 
most  ambitious  in  its  objects  considering  the  resources  of  those 
who  undertook  it. 

The  ships  being  now  manned,  and  everything  put  on  board  with 
which  they  meant  to  sail,  the  trumpet  commanded  silence,  and  the 
prayers  customary  before  putting  out  to  sea  were  offered,  not  in 
each  ship  by  itself,  but  by  all  together  to  the  voice  of  a  herald  ;  and 
bowls  of  wine  were  mixed  through  all  the  armament,  and  libations 
made  by  the  soldiers  and  their  officers  in  gold  and  silver  goblets. 
In  their  prayers  joined  also  the  crowds  on  shore,  the  citizens  and 
all  others  that  wished  them  well.  The  hymn  sung  and  the  libations 
finished,  they  put  out  to  sea,  and  first  sailing  out  in  column  then 
raced  each  other  as  far  as  /Egina,  and  so  hastened  to  reach  Corcyra, 
where  the  rest  of  the  allied  forces  w^ere  also  assembling. 

6.  COMMAND  AND  POLICY 
T/iitcydides,  VI,  46-49 

Meanwhile  the  three  ships  that  had  been  sent  on  came  from 
Egesta  to  the  Athenians  at  Rhegium,  with  the  news  that  so  far 
from  there  being  the  sums  promised,  all  that  could  be  produced 
was  thirty  talents.  The  generals  were  not  a  little  disheartened  at 
being  thus  disappointed  at  the  outset,  and  by  the  refusal  to  join  in 
the  expedition  of  the  Rhegians,  the  people  they  had  first  tried  to 
gain  and  had  had  most  reason  to  count  upon,  from  their  relation- 
ship to  the  Leontines  and  constant  friendship  for  Athens.  If 
Nicias  was  prepared  for  the  news  from  Egesta,  his  two  colleagues 
were  taken  completely  by  surprise.  The  Egestaeans  had  had  re- 
course to  the  following  stratagem,  when  the  first  envoys  from 
Athens  came  to  inspect  their  resources.  They  took  the  envoys  in 
question  to  the  temple  of  Aphrodite  at  Er}'x  and  showed  them  the 
treasures  deposited  there ;  bowls,  wine-ladles,  censers,  and  a  large 
number  of  other  pieces  of  plate,  which  from  being  in  silver  gave 


398  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

an  impression  of  wealth  quite  out  of  proportion  to  their  really  small 
value.  They  also  privately  entertained  the  ships'  crews,  and  col- 
lected all  the  cups  of  gold  and  silver  that  they  could  find  in  Egesta 
itself  or  could  borrow  in  the  neighbouring  Phoenician  and  Hellenic 
towns,  and  each  brought  them  to  the  banquets  as  their  own  ;  and 
as  all  used  pretty  nearly  the  same,  and  everywhere  a  great  quantity 
of  plate  was  shown,  the  effect  was  most  dazzling  upon  the  Athe- 
nian sailors,  and  made  them  talk  loudly  of  the  riches  they  had  seen 
when  they  got  back  to  Athens.  The  dupes  in  question  —  who  had 
in  their  turn  persuaded  the  rest  —  when  the  news  got  abroad  that 
there  was  not  the  money  supposed  at  Egesta,  were  much  blamed 
by  the  soldiers. 

Meanwhile  the  generals  consulted  upon  what  was  to  be  done. 
The  opinion  of  Nicias  was  to  sail  with  all  the  armament  to  Selinus, 
the  main  object  of  the  expedition,  and  if  the  Egestaeans  could  pro- 
vide money  for  the  whole  force,  to  advise  accordingly  ;  but  if  they 
could  not,  to  require  them  to  supply  provisions  for  the  sixty  ships 
that  they  had  asked  for,  to  stay  and  settle  matters  between  them 
and  the  Selinuntines  either  by  force  or  by  agreement,  and  then  to 
coast  past  the  other  cities,  and  after  displaying  the  power  of  Athens 
and  proving  their  zeal  for  their  friends  and  allies,  to  sail  home 
again  (unless  they  should  have  some  sudden  and  unexpected  op- 
portunity of  serving  the  Leontines,  or  of  bringing  over  some  of 
the  other  cities),  and  not  to  endanger  the  state  by  wasting  its 
home  resources. 

Alcibiades  said  that  a  great  expedition  like  the  present  must  not 
disgrace  itself  by  going  away  without  having  done  anything ;  heralds 
must  be  sent  to  all  the  cities  except  Selinus  and  Syracuse,  and 
efforts  be  made  to  make  some  of  the  Sicels  revolt  from  the  Syra- 
cusans,  and  to  obtain  the  friendship  of  others,  in  order  to  have 
corn  and  troops  ;  and  first  of  all  to  gain  the  Messinians,  who  lay 
right  in  the  passage  and  entrance  to  Sicily,  and  would  afford  an 
excellent  harbour  and  base  for  the  army.  Thus,  after  bringing 
over  the  towns  and  knowing  who  would  be  their  allies  in  the  war, 
they  might  at  length  attack  Syracuse  and  Selinus ;  unless  the 
latter  came  to  terms  with  Egesta  and  the  former  ceased  to  oppose 
the  restoration  of  Leontini. 


(Vicij  4m  V. 


X-T^^—^  u  vvc^* 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  399 

Lamachus,  on  the  other  hand,  said  that  they  ought  to  sail  straight 
to  Syracuse,  and  fight  their  battle  at  once  under  the  walls  of  the 
town  while  the  people  were  still  unprepared,  and  the  panic  at  its 
height.  Every  armament  was  most  terrible  at  first ;  if  it  allowed 
time  to  run  on  without  showing  itself,  men's  courage  revived,  and 
they  saw  it  appear  at  last  almost  with  indifference.  By  attacking 
suddenly,  while  Syracuse  still  trembled  at  their  coming,  they  would 
have  the  best  chance  of  gaining  a  victory  for  themselves  and  of 
striking  a  complete  panic  into  the  enemy  by  the  aspect  of  their 
numbers  —  which  would  never  appear  so  considerable  as  at  present 
—  by  the  anticipation  of  coming  disaster,  and  above  all  by  the  im- 
mediate danger  of  the  engagement.  They  might  also  count  upon 
surprising  many  in  the  fields  outside,  incredulous  of  their  coming ; 
and  at  the  moment  that  the  enemy  was  carrying  in  his  property 
the  army  would  not  want  for  booty  if  it  sat  down  in  force  before 
the  city.  The  rest  of  the  Siceliots  would  thus  be  immediately  less 
disposed  to  enter  into  alliance  with  the  Syracusans,  and  would  join 
the  Athenians,  without  waiting  to  see  which  were  the  strongest. 
They  must  make  Megara  their  naval  station  as  a  place  to  retreat 
to  and  a  base  from  which  to  attack  :  it  was  an  uninhabited  place 
at  no  great  distance  from  Syracuse  either  by  land  or  by  sea. 

After  speaking  to  this  effect,  Lamachus  nevertheless  gave  his 
support  to  the  opinion  of  Alcibiades. 

Thucydides^  VI,  63 

Summer  was  now  over.  The  winter  following,  the  Athenians 
at  once  began  to  prepare  for  moving  on  Syracuse,  and  the  Syracu- 
sans on  their  side  for  marching  against  them.  From  the  moment 
when  the  Athenians  failed  to  attack  them  instantly  as  they  at  first 
feared  and  expected,  every  day  that  passed  did  something  to  revive 
their  courage  ;  and  when  they  saw  them  sailing  far  away  from  them 
on  the  other  side  of  Sicily,  and  going  to  Hybla  only  to  fail  in  their 
attempts  to  storm  it,  they  thought  less  of  them  than  ever,  and 
called  upon  their  generals,  as  the  multitude  is  apt  to  do  in  its 
moments  of  confidence,  to  lead  them  to  Catana,  since  the  enemy 
would  not  come  to  them.  Parties  also  of  the  Syracusan  horse 
employed  in  reconnoitring  constantly  rode  up  to  the  Athenian 


400  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

armament,  and  among  other  insults  asked  them  whether  they  had 
not  really  come  to  settle  with  the  Syracusans  in  a  foreign  country 
rather  than  to  resettle  the  Leontines  in  their  own. 

Thucydides,  VII,  7-8,  16 

Meanwhile  Gylippus  went  into  the  rest  of  Sicily  to  raise  land 
and  naval  forces,  and  also  to  bring  over  any  of  the  cities  that  either 
were  lukewarm  in  the  cause  or  had  hitherto  kept  out  of  the  war 
altogether.  Syracusan  and  Corinthian  envoys  were  also  despatched 
to  Lacedaemon  and  Corinth  to  get  a  fresh  force  sent  over,  in  any 
way  that  might  offer,  either  in  merchant  vessels  or  transports,  or 
in  any  other  manner  likely  to  prove  successful,  as  the  Athenians 
too  were  sending  for  reinforcements ;  while  the  Syracusans  pro- 
ceeded to  man  a  fleet  and  to  exercise,  meaning  to  try  their  fortune 
in  this  way  also,  and  generally  became  exceedingly  confident. 

Nicias  perceiving  this,  and  seeing  the  strength  of  the  enemy  and 
his  own  difficulties  daily  increasing,  himself  also  sent  to  Athens. 
He  had  before  sent  frequent  reports  of  events  as  they  occurred, 
and  felt  it  especially  incumbent  upon  him  to  do  so  now,  as  he 
thought  that  they  were  in  a  critical  position,  and  that  unless  speedily 
recalled  or  strongly  reinforced  from  home,  they  had  no  hope  of 
safety.  He  feared,  however,  that  the  messengers,  either  through 
inability  to  speak,  or  through  failure  of  memory,  or  from  a  wish  to 
please  the  multitude,  might  not  report  the  truth,  and  so  thought  it 
best  to  wTite  a  letter,  to  insure  that  the  Athenians  should  know 
his  own  opinion  without  its  being  lost  in  transmission,  and  be  able 
to  decide  upon  the  real  facts  of  the  case.  His  emissaries,  accord- 
ingly, departed  with  the  letter  and  the  requisite  verbal  instructions  ; 
and  he  attended  to  the  affairs  of  the  army,  making  it  his  aim  now  to 
keep  on  the  defensive  and  to  avoid  any  unnecessary  danger.  .  .  . 

Such  were  the  contents  of  Nicias'  letter.  When  the  Athenians 
had  heard  it  they  refused  to  accept  his  resignation,  but  chose  him 
two  colleagues,  naming  Menander  and  Euthydemus,  two  of  the 
officers  at  the  seat  of  war,  to  fill  their  places  until  their  arrival,  that 
Nicias  might  not  be  left  alone  in  his  sickness  to  bear  the  whole 
weight  of  affairs.  They  also  voted  to  sepd  out  another  army  and 
navy,  drawn  partly  from  the  Athenians  on  the  muster-roll,  partly 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR       .  401 

from  the  allies.  The  colleagues  chosen  for  Nicias  were  Demos- 
thenes, son  of  Alcisthenes,  and  Eurymedon,  son  of  Thucles. 
Eurymedon  was  sent  off  at  once,  about  the  time  of  the  winter 
solstice,  with  ten  ships,  a  hundred  and  twenty  talents  of  silver, 
and  instructions  to  tell  the  army  that  reinforcements  would  arrive, 
and  that  care  would  be  taken  of  them  ;  but  Demosthenes  stayed 
behind  to  organise  the  expedition,  meaning  to  start  as  soon  as  it 
was  spring,  and  sent  for  troops  to  the  allies,  and  meanwhile  got 
together  money,  ships,  and  heavy  infantry  at  home. 

Thiicydides,  VII,  36-41 

Meanwhile  the  Syracusans  hearing  of  their  approach  resolved  to 
make  a  second  attempt  with  their  fleet  and  their  other  forces  on 
shore,  which  they  had  been  collecting  for  this  very  purpose  in  order 
to  do  something  before  their  arrival.  In  addition  to  other  improve- 
ments suggested  by  the  former  sea-fight  which  they  now  adopted 
in  the  equipment  of  their  navy,  they  cut  down  their  prows  to  a 
smaller  compass  to  make  them  more  solid  and  made  their  cheeks 
stouter,  and  from  these  let  stays  into  the  vessel's  sides  for  a  length 
of  six  cubits  within  and  without,  in  the  same  way  as  the  Corin- 
thians had  altered  their  prows  before  engaging  the  squadron  at 
Naupactus.  The  Syracusans  thought  that  they  would  thus  have  an 
advantage  over  the  Athenian  vessels,  which  were  not  constructed 
with  equal  strength,  but  were  slight  in  the  bows,  from  their  being 
more  used  to  sail  round  and  charge  the  enemy's  side  than  to  meet 
him  prow  to  prow,  and  that  the  battle  being  in  the  great  harbour, 
with  a  great  many  ships  in  not  much  room,  was  also  a  fact  in 
their  favour.  Charging  prow  to  prow,  they  would  stave  in  the 
enemy's  bows,  by  striking  with  solid  and  stout  beaks  against  hollow 
and  weak  ones  ;  and  secondly,  the  Athenians  for  want  of  room 
would  be  unable  to  use  their  favourite  manoeuvre  of  breaking  the 
line  or  of  sailing  round,  as  the  Syracusans  would  do  their  best  not  to 
let  them  do  the  one,  and  want  of  room  would  prevent  their  doing 
the  other.  This  charging  prow  to  prow,  which  had  hitherto  been 
thought  want  of  skill  in  a  helmsman,  would  be  the  Syracusans' 
chief  manoeuvre,  as  being  that  which  they  should  find  most  useful, 
since  the  Athenians,  if  repulsed,  would  not  be  able  to  back  water 


402  .  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

in  any  direction  except  towards  the  shore,  and  that  only  for  a  little 
way,  and  in  the  little  space  in  front  of  their  own  camp.  The  rest 
of  the  harbour  would  be  commanded  by  the  Syracusans  ;  and  the 
Athenians,  if  hard  pressed,  by  crowding  together  in  a  small  space 
and  all  to  the  same  point,  would  run  foul  of  one  another  and  fall 
into  disorder,  which  was,  in  fact,  the  thing  that  did  the  Athenians 
most  harm  in  all  the  sea-fights,  they  not  having,  like  the  Syra- 
cusans, the  whole  harbour  to  retreat  over.  As  to  their  sailing  round 
into  the  open  sea,  this  would  be  impossible,  with  the  Syracusans 
in  possession  of  the  way  out  and  in,  especially  as  Plemmyrium 
would  be  hostile  to  them,  and  the  mouth  of  the  harbour  was  not 
large. 

With  these  contrivances  to  suit  their  skill  and  ability,  and  now 
more  confident  after  the  previous  sea-fight,  the  Syracusans  attacked 
by  land  and  sea  at  once.  The  town  force  Gylippus  led  out  a  little 
the  first  and  brought  them  up  to  the  wall  of  the  Athenians,  where 
it  looked  towards  the  city,  while  the  force  from  the  Olympieum, 
that  is  to  say,  the  heavy  infantry  that  were  there  with  the  horse 
and  the  light  troops  of  the  Syracusans,  advanced  against  the  wall 
from  the  opposite  side ;  the  ships  of  the  Syracusans  and  allies  sail- 
ing out  immediately  afterwards.  The  Athenians  at  first  fancied 
that  they  were  to  be  attacked  by  land  only,  and  it  was  not  without 
alarm  that  they  saw  the  fleet  suddenly  approaching  as  well ;  and 
while  some  were  forming  upon  the  walls  and  in  front  of  them 
against  the  advancing  enemy,  and  some  marching  out  in  haste 
against  the  numbers  of  horse  and  darters  coming  from  the  Olym- 
pieum and  from  outside,  others  manned  the  ships  or  rushed  down 
to  the  beach  to  oppose  the  enemy,  and  when  the  ships  were  manned 
put  out  with  seventy-five  sail  against  about  eighty  of  the  Syracusans. 

After  spending  a  great  part  of  the  day  in  advancing  and  retreat- 
ing and  skirmishing  with  each  other,  without  either  being  able  to 
gain  any  advantage  worth  speaking  of,  except  that  the  Syracusans 
sank  one  or  two  of  the  Athenian  vessels,  they  parted,  the  land 
force  at  the  same  time  retiring  from  the  lines.  The  next  day  the 
Syracusans  remained  quiet,  and  gave  no  signs  of  what  they  were 
going  to  do ;  but  Nicias,  seeing  that  the  batde  had  been  a  drawn 
one,  and  expecting  that  they  would  attack  again,  compelled  the 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  403 

captains  to  refit  any  of  the  ships  that  had  suffered,  and  moored 
merchant  vessels  before  the  stockade  which  they  had  driven  into 
the  sea  in  front  of  their  ships,  to  serve  instead  of  an  enclosed  har- 
bour, at  about  two  hundred  feet  from  each  other,  in  order  that  any 
ship  that  was  hard  pressed  might  be  able  to  retreat  in  safety  and 
sail  out  again  at  leisure.  These  preparations  occupied  the  Athe- 
nians all  day  until  nightfall. 

The  next  day  the  Syracusans  began  operations  at  an  earlier  hour, 
but  with  the  same  plan  of  attack  by  land  and  sea.  A  great  part  of 
the  day  the  rivals  spent  as  before,  confronting  and  skirmishing  with 
each  other ;  until  at  last  Ariston,  son  of  Pyrrhicus,  a  Corinthian, 
the  ablest  helmsman  in  the  Syracusan  service,  persuaded  their  naval 
commanders  to  send  to  the  officials  in  the  city,  and  tell  them  to 
move  the  sale  market  as  quickly  as  they  could  down  to  the  sea, 
and  oblige  every  one  to  bring  whatever  eatables  he  had  and  sell 
them  there,  thus  enabling  the  commanders  to  land  the  crews  and 
dine  at  once  close  to  the  ships,  and  shortly  afterwards,  the  selfsame 
day,  to  attack  the  Athenians  again  when  they  were  not  expecting  it. 

In  compliance  with  this  advice  a  messenger  was  sent  and  the 
market  got  ready,  upon  which  the  Syracusans  suddenly  backed 
water  and  withdrew  to  the  town,  and  at  once  landed  and  took  their 
dinner  upon  the  spot ;  while  the  Athenians,  supposing  that  they 
had  returned  to  the  town  because  they  felt  they  were  beaten,  dis- 
embarked at  their  leisure  and  set  about  getting  their  dinners  and 
about  their  other  occupations,  under  the  idea  that  they  had  done 
with  fighting  for  that  day.  Suddenly  the  Syracusans  manned  their 
ships  and  again  sailed  against  them  ;  and  the  Athenians,  in  great 
confusion  and  most  of  them  fasting,  got  on  board,  and  with  great 
difficulty  put  out  to  meet  them.  P"or  some  time  both  parties  re- 
mained on  the  defensive  without  engaging,  until  the  Athenians  at 
last  resolved  not  to  let  themselves  be  worn  out  by  waiting  where 
they  were,  but  to  attack  without  delay,  and  giving  a  cheer,  went 
into  action.  The  Syracusans  received  them,  and  charging  prow  to 
prow  as  they  had  intended,  stove  in  a  great  part  of  the  Athenian 
foreships  by  the  strength  of  their  beaks  ;  the  darters  on  the  decks 
also  did  great  damage  to  the  Athenians,  but  still  greater  damage 
was  done  by  the  Syracusans  who  went  about  in  small  boats,  ran  in 


404  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

upon  the  oars  of  the  Athenian  galleys,  and  sailed  against  their 
sides,  and  discharged  from  thence  their  darts  upon  the  sailors. 

At  last,  fighting  hard  in  this  fashion,  the  Syracusans  gained  the 
victory,  and  the  Athenians  turned  and  fled  between  the  merchant- 
men to  their  own  station.  The  Syracusan  ships  pursued  them  as 
far  as  the  merchantmen,  where  they  were  stopped  by  the  beams 
armed  with  dolphins  suspended  from  those  vessels  over  the  passage. 
Two  of  the  Syracusan  vessels  went  too  near  in  the  excitement  of 
victory  and  were  destroyed,  one  of  them  being  taken  with  its  crew. 
After  sinking  seven  of  the  Athenian  vessels  and  disabling  many, 
and  taking  most  of  the  men  prisoners  and  killing  others,  the  Syra- 
cusans retired  and  set  up  trophies  for  both  the  engagements,  being 
now  confident  of  having  a  decided  superiority  by  sea,  and  by  no 
means  despairing  of  equal  success  by  land. 

Plutarch,  Nicias,  17 

When,  therefore,  he  brought  again  the  army  to  Syracuse,  such 
was  his  conduct,  and  with  such  celerity,  and  at  the  same  time  se- 
curity, he  came  upon  them,  that  nobody  knew  of  his  approach, 
when  already  he  had  come  to  shore  with  his  galleys  at  Thapsus, 
and  had  landed  his  men  ;  and  before  any  could  help  it,  he  had 
surprised  Epipolae,  had  defeated  the  body  of  picked  men  that  came 
to  its  succour,  took  three  hundred  prisoners,  and  routed  the  cavalry 
of  the  enemy,  which  had  been  thought  invincible.  But  what  chiefly 
astonished  the  Syracusans,  and  seemed  incredible  to  the  Greeks, 
was  in  so  short  a  space  of  time  the  walling  about  of  Syracuse,  a 
town  not  less  than  Athens,  and  far  more  difficult,  by  the  uneven- 
ness  of  the  ground,  and  the  nearness  of  the  sea  and  the  marshes 
adjacent,  to  have  such  a  wall  drawn  in  a  circle  round  it ;  yet  this, 
all  within  a  very  little,  finished  by  a  man  that  had  not  even  his 
health  for  such  weighty  cares,  but  lay  ill  of  the  stone,  which  may 
justly  bear  the  blame  for  what  was  left  undone.  I  admire  the  in- 
dustry of  the  general,  and  the  bravery  of  the  soldiers  for  what  they 
succeeded  in.  Euripides,  after  their  ruin  and  disaster,  writing  their 
funeral  elegy,  said  that  — 

Eight  victories  over  Syracuse  they  gained, 
While  equal  yet  to  both  the  gods  remained. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  405 

And  in  truth  one  shall  not  find  eight,  but  many  more  victories, 
won  by  these  men  against  the  Syracusans,  till  the  gods,  in  real 
truth,  or  fortune  intervened  to  check  the  Athenians  in  this  advance 
to  the  height  of  power  and  greatness. 

T/i/icydides,  VII,  59-60 

Such  were  the  auxiliaries  brought  together  on  either  side,  all  of 
which  had  by  this  time  joined,  neither  party  experiencing  any  subse- 
quent accession.  It  was  no  wonder,  therefore,  if  the  Syracusans 
and  their  allies  thought  that  it  would  win  them  great  glory  if  they 
could  follow  up  their  recent  victory  in  the  sea-fight  by  the  capture 
of  the  whole  Athenian  armada,  without  letting  it  escape  either  by 
sea  or  by  land.  They  began  at  once  to  close  up  the  Great  Harbour 
by  means  of  boats,  merchant  vessels,  and  galleys  moored  broadside 
across  its  mouth,  which  is  nearly  a  mile  wide,  and  made  all  their 
other  arrangements  for  the  event  of  the  Athenians  again  venturing 
to  fight  at  sea.  There  was,  in  fact,  nothing  little  either  in  their 
plans  or  their  ideas. 

The  Athenians,  seeing  them  closing  up  the  harbour  and  informed 
of  their  further  designs,  called  a  council  of  war.  The  generals  and 
colonels  assembled  and  discussed  the  difficulties  of  the  situation ; 
the  point  which  pressed  most  being  that  they  no  longer  had  pro- 
visions for  immediate  use  (having  sent  on  to  Catana  to  tell  them 
not  to  send  any,  in  the  belief  that  they  were  going  away),  and  that 
they  would  not  have  any  in  future  unless  they  could  command  the 
sea.  They  therefore  determined  to  evacuate  their  upper  lines,  to 
enclose  with  a  cross-wall  and  garrison  a  small  space  close  to  the 
ships,  only  just  sufficient  to  hold  their  stores  and  sick,  and  manning 
all  the  ships,  seaworthy  or  not,  with  every  man  that  could  be  spared 
from  the  rest  of  their  land  forces,  to  fight  it  out  at  sea,  and  if  vic- 
torious, to  go  to  Catana,  if  not,  to  burn  their  vessels,  form  in  close 
order,  and  retreat  by  land  for  the  nearest  friendly  place  they  could 
reach,  Hellenic  or  barbarian.  This  was  no  sooner  settled  than 
carried  into  effect :  they  descended  gradually  from  the  upper  lines 
and  manned  all  their  vessels,  compelling  all  to  go  on  board  who 
were  of  age  to  be  in  any  way  of  use.  They  thus  succeeded  in 
manning  about  one  hundred  and  ten  ships  in  all,  on  board  of  which 


4o6  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

they  embarked  a  number  of  archers  and  darters  taken  from  the 
Acarnanians  and  from  the  other  foreigners,  making  all  other  pro- 
visions allowed  by  the  nature  of  their  plan  and  by  the  necessities 
which  imposed  it. 

Thiicydides,  VII,  70-72 

The  Syracusans  and  their  allies  had  already  put  out  with  about 
the  same  number  of  ships  as  before,  a  part  of  which  kept  guard  at 
the  outlet,  and  the  remainder  all  round  the  rest  of  the  harbour,  in 
order  to  attack  the  Athenians  on  all  sides  at  once  ;  while  the  land 
forces  held  themselves  in  readiness  at  the  points  at  which  the  vessels 
might  put  into  the  shore.  The  Syracusan  fleet  was  commanded 
by  Sicanus  and  Agatharcus,  who  had  each  a  wing  of  the  whole 
force,  with  Pythen  and  the  Corinthians  in  the  centre.  When  the 
rest  of  the  Athenians  came  up  to  the  barrier,  with  the  first  shock 
of  their  charge  they  overpowered  the  ships  stationed  there,  and 
tried  to  undo  the  fastenings  ;  after  this,  as  the  Syracusans  and 
allies  bore  down  upon  them  from  all  quarters,  the  action  spread 
from  the  barrier  over  the  whole  harbour,  and  was  more  obstinately 
disputed  than  any  of  the  preceding  ones.  On  either  side  the  rowers 
showed  great  zeal  in  bringing  up  their  vessels  at  the  boatswains' 
orders,  and  the  helmsmen  great  skill  in  manoeuvring,  and  great 
emulation  one  with  another ;  while  the  ships  once  alongside,  the 
soldiers  on  board  did  their  best  not  to  let  the  service  on  deck  be 
outdone  by  the  others  ;  in  short,  every  man  strove  to  prove  him- 
self the  first  in  his  particular  department.  And  as  many  ships 
were  engaged  in  a  small  compass  (for  these  were  the  largest  fleets 
fighting  in  the  narrowest  space  ever  known,  being  together  little 
short  of  two  hundred),  the  regular  attacks  with  the  beak  were  few, 
there  being  no  opportunity  of  backing  water  or  of  breaking  the 
line  ;  while  the  collisions  caused  by  one  ship  chancing  to  run  foul 
of  another,  either  in  flying  from  or  attacking  a  third,  were  more 
frequent.  So  long  as  a  vessel  was  coming  up  to  the  charge  the 
men  on  the  decks  rained  darts  and  arrows  and  stones  upon  her ; 
but  once  alongside,  the  heavy  infantry  tried  to  board  each  other's 
vessel,  fighting  hand  to  hand.  In  many  quarters  also  it  happened, 
by  reason  of  the  narrow  room,  that  a  vessel  was  charging  an  enemy 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  407 

on  one  side  and  beings  charged  herself  on  another,  and  that  two, 
or  sometimes  more  ships  had  perforce  got  entangled  round  one, 
obliging  the  helmsmen  to  attend  to  defence  here,  offence  there, 
not  to  one  thing  at  once,  but  to  many  on  all  sides  ;  while  the  huge 
din  caused  by  the  number  of  ships  crashing  together  not  only 
spread  terror,  but  made  the  orders  of  the  boatswains  inaudible. 
The  boatswains  on  either  side  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty  and 
in  the  heat  of  the  conflict  shouted  incessantly  orders  and  appeals 
to  their  men  ;  the  Athenians  they  urged  to  force  the  passage  out, 
and  now  if  ever  to  show  their  mettle  and  lay  hold  of  a  safe  return 
to  their  country ;  to  the  Syracusans  and  their  allies  they  cried  that 
it  would  be  glorious  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  enemy,  and  con- 
quering, to  exalt  the  countries  that  were  theirs.  The  generals, 
moreover,  on  either  side,  if  they  saw  any  in  any  part  of  the  battle 
backing  ashore  without  being  forced  to  do  so,  called  out  to  the 
captain  by  name  and  asked  him  ■ —  the  Athenians,  whether  they 
were  retreating  because  they  thought  the  thrice  hostile  shore  more 
their  own  than  that  sea  which  had  cost  them  so  much  labour  to 
win  ;  the  Syracusans,  whether  they  were  flying  from  the  flying 
Athenians,  whom  they  well  knew  to  be  eager  to  escape  in  what- 
ever way  they  could. 

Meanwhile  the  two  armies  on  shore,  while  victory  hung  in  the  bal- 
ance, were  a  prey  to  the  most  agonising  and  conflicting  emotions  ; 
the  natives  thirsting  for  more  glory  than  they  had  already  won, 
while  the  invaders  feared  to  find  themselves  in  even  worse  plight 
than  before.  Then  all  of  the  Athenians  being  set  upon  their  fleet, 
their  fear  for  the  event  was  like  nothing  they  had  ever  felt ;  while 
their  view  of  the  struggle  was  necessarily  as  chequered  as  the  battle 
itself.  Close  to  the  scene  of  action  and  not  all  looking  at  the  same 
point  at  once,  some  saw  their  friends  victorious  and  took  courage, 
and  fell  to  calling  upon  heaven  not  to  deprive  them  of  salvation, 
while  others  who  had  their  eyes  turned  upon  the  losers,  wailed 
and  cried  aloud,  and,  although  spectators,  were  more  overcome 
than  the  actual  combatants.  Others,  again,  were  gazing  at  some 
spot  where  the  battle  was  evenly  disputed  ;  as  the  strife  was  pro- 
tracted without  decision,  their  swaying  bodies  reflected  the  agitation 
of  their  minds,. and  they  suffered  the  worst  agony  of  all,  ever  just 


4o8  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

within  reach  of  safety  or  just  on  the  point  of  destruction.  In  short, 
in  that  one  Athenian  army  as  long  as  the  sea-fight  remained  doubt- 
ful there  was  every  sound  to  be  heard  at  once,  shrieks,  cheers, 
"'  We  zvin,"  "  We  lose,"  and  all  the  other  manifold  exclamations  that 
a  great  host  would  necessarily  utter  in  great  peril ;  and  with  the 
men  in  the  fleet  it  was  nearly  the  same  ;  until  at  last  the  Syracusans 
and  their  allies,  after  the  battle  had  lasted  a  long  while,  put  the 
Athenians  to  flight,  and  with  much  shouting  and  cheering  chased 
them  in  open  rout  to  the  shore.  The  naval  force,  one  one  way, 
one  another,  as  many  as  were  not  taken  afloat,  now  ran  ashore 
and  rushed  from  on  board  their  ships  to  their  camp  ;  while  the 
army,  no  more  divided,  but  carried  away  by  one  impulse,  all  with 
shrieks  and  groans  deplored  the  event,  and  ran  down,  some  to 
help  the  ships,  others  to  guard  what  was  left  of  their  wall,  while 
the  remaining  and  most  numerous  part  already  began  to  consider 
how  they  should  save  themselves.  Indeed,  the  panic  of  the  present 
moment  had  never  been  surpassed.  They  now  suffered  very  nearly 
what  they  had  inflicted  at  Pylos  ;  as  then  the  Lacedaemonians  with 
the  loss  of  their  fleet  lost  also  the  men  who  had  crossed  over  to 
the  island,  so  now  the  Athenians  had  no  hope  of  escaping  by  land, 
without  the  help  of  some  extraordinary  accident. 

The  sea-fight  having  been  a  severe  one,  and  many  ships  and 
lives  having  been  lost  on  both  sides,  the  victorious  Syracusans  and 
their  allies  now  picked  up  their  wrecks  and  dead,  and  sailed  off 
to  the  city  and  set  up  a  trophy.  The  Athenians,  overwhelmed  by 
their  misfortune,  never  even  thought  of  asking  leave  to  take  up 
their  dead  or  wrecks,  but  wished  to  retreat  that  very  night.  De- 
mosthenes, however,  went  to  Nicias  and  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that 
they  should  man  the  ships  they  had  left  and  make  another  effort 
to  force  their  passage  out  next  morning  ;  saying  that  they  had  still 
left  more  ships  fit  for  service  than  the  enemy,  the  Athenians 
having  about  sixty  remaining  as  against  less  than  fifty  of  their 
opponents.  Nicias  was  quite  of  his  mind  ;  but  when  they  wished 
to  man  the  vessels,  the  sailors  refused  to  go  on  board,  being  so 
utterly  overcome  by  their  defeat  as  no  longer  to  believe  in  the 
possibility  of  success. 

Accordingly  they  all  now  made  up  their  minds  to.  retreat  by  land. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  409 

Thucydides,  VII,  74-75 

Meanwhile  the  Syracusans  and  Gylippus  marched  out  and  blocked 
up  the  roads  through  the  country  by  which  the  Athenians  were 
likely  to  pass,  and  kept  guard  at  the  fords  of  the  streams  and  rivers, 
posting  themselves  so  as  to  receive  them  and  stop  the  army  where 
they  thought  best  ;  while  their  fleet  sailed  up  to  the  beach  and 
towed  off  the  ships  of  the  Athenians.  Some  few  were  burned  by 
the  Athenians  themselves  as  they  had  intended  ;  the  rest  the 
Syracusans  lashed  on  to  their  own  at  their  leisure  as  they  had  been 
thrown  up  on  shore,  without  any  one  trying  to  stop  them,  and 
conveyed  to  the  town. 

After  this,  Nicias  and  Demosthenes  now  thinking  that  enough 
had  been  done  in  the  way  of  preparation,  the  removal  of  the  army 
took  place  upon  the  second  day  after  the  sea-fight.  It  was  a 
lamentable  scene,  not  merely  from  the  single  circumstance  that 
they  were  retreating  after  having  lost  all  their  ships,  their  great 
hopes  gone,  and  themselves  and  the  state  in  peril ;  but  also  in 
leaving  the  camp  there  were  things  most  grievous  for  every  eye 
and  heart  to  contemplate.  The  dead  lay  unburied,  and  each  man 
as  he  recognised  a  friend  among  them  shuddered  with  grief  and 
horror  ;  while  the  living  whom  they  were  leaving  behind,  wounded 
or  sick,  were  to  the  living  far  more  shocking  than  the  dead,  and 
more  to  be  pitied  than  those  who  had  perished.  These  fell  to 
entreating  and  bewailing  until  their  friends  knew  not  what  to  do, 
begging  them  to  take  them  and  loudly  calling  to  each  individual 
comrade  or  relative  whom  they  could  see,  hanging  upon  the  necks 
of  their  tent-fellows  in  the  act  of  departure,  and  following  as  far 
as  they  could,  and  when  their  bodily  strength  failed  them,  calling 
again  and  again  upon  heaven  and  shrieking  aloud  as  they  were 
left  behind.  So  that  the  whole  army  being  filled  with  tears  and 
distracted  after  this  fashion  found  it  not  easy  to  go,  even  from  an 
enemy's  land,  where  they  had  already  suffered  evils  too  great  for 
tears  and  in  the  unknown  future  before  them  feared  to  suffer  more. 
Dejection  and  self-condemnation  were  also  rife  among  them.  In- 
deed they  could  only  be  compared  to  a  starved-out  town,  and  that 
no  small  one,  escaping  ;  the  whole  multitude  upon  the  march  being 
not  less  than  forty  thousand  men.    All  carried  anything  they  could 


4IO  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

which  might  be  of  use,  and  the  heavy  infantry  and  troopers,  con- 
trary to  their  wont,  while  under  arms  carried  their  own  victuals,  in 
some  cases  for  want  of  servants,  in  others  through  not  trusting 
them  ;  as  they  had  long  been  deserting  and  now  did  so  in  greater 
numbers  than  ever.  Yet  even  thus  they  did  not  carry  enough,  as 
there  was  no  longer  food  in  the  camp.  Moreover  their  disgrace 
generally,  and  the  universality  of  their  sufferings,  however  to  a 
certain  extent  alleviated  by  being  borne  in  company,  were  still  felt 
at  the  moment  a  heavy  burden,  especially  when  they  contrasted  the 
splendour  and  glory  of  their  setting  out  with  the  humiliation  in 
which  it  had  ended.  For  this  was  by  far  the  greatest  reverse  that 
ever  befell  an  Hellenic  army.  They  had  come  to  enslave  others, 
and  were  departing  in  fear  of  being  enslaved  themselves  :  they 
had  sailed  out  with  prayer  and  paeans,  and  now  started  to  go  back 
with  omens  directly  contrary  ;  travelling  by  land  instead  of  by  sea, 
and  trusting  not  in  their  fleet  but  in  their  heavy  infantry.  Never- 
theless the  greatness  of  the  danger  still  impending  made  all  this 
appear  tolerable. 

Nicias  seeing  the  army  dejected  and  greatly  altered,  passed  along 
the  ranks  and  encouraged  and  comforted  them  as  far  as  was  pos- 
sible under  the  circumstances,  raising  his  voice  still  higher  and 
higher  as  he  went  from  one  company  to  another  in  his  earnestness, 
and  in  his  anxiety  that  the  benefit  of  his  words  might  reach  as 
many  as  possible. 

Thucydides,  VII,  80-82 

During  the  night  Nicias  and  Demosthenes,  seeing  the  wretched 
conditions  of  their  troops,  now  in  want  of  every  kind  of  necessary, 
and  numbers  of  them  disabled  in  the  numerous  attacks  of  the 
enemy,  determined  to  light  as  many  fires  as  possible,  and  to  lead 
off  the  army,  no  longer  by  the  same  route  as  they  had  intended, 
but  towards  the  sea  in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  guarded  by  the 
Syracusans.  The  whole  of  this  route  was  leading  the  army  not 
to  Catana  but  to  the  other  side  of  Sicily,  towards  Camarina,  Gela, 
and  the  other  Hellenic  and  barbarian  towns  in  that  quarter.  They 
accordingly  lit  a  number  of  fires  and  set  out  by  night.  Now  all 
armies,  and  the  greatest  most  of  all,  are  liable  to  fears  and  alarms, 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  41 1 

especially  when  they  are  marching  by  night  through  an  enemy's 
country  and  with  the  enemy  near ;  and  the  Athenians  falling  into 
one  of  these  panics,  the  leading  division,  that  of  Nicias,  kept  to- 
gether and  got  on  a  good  way  in  front,  while  that  of  Demosthenes, 
comprising  rather  more  than  half  the  army,  got  separated  and 
marched  on  in  some  disorder.  By  morning,  however,  they  reached 
the  sea,  and  getting  into  the  Helorine  Road,  pushed  on  in  order  to 
reach  the  river  Cacyparis,  and  to  follow  the  stream  up  through  the 
interior,  where  they  hoped  to  be  met  by  the  Sicels  whom  they  had 
sent  for.  Arrived  at  the  river,  they  found  there  also  a  Syracusan 
party  engaged  in  barring  the  passage  of  the  ford  with  a  wall  and  a 
palisade,  and  forcing  this  guard,  crossed  the  river  and  went  on  to 
another  called  the  Erineus,  according  to  the  advice  of  their  guides. 
Meanwhile,  when  day  came  and  the  Syracusans  and  allies  found 
that  the  Athenians  were  gone,  most  of  them  accused  Gylippus  of 
having  let  them  escape  on  purpose,  and  hastily  pursuing  by  the 
road  which  they  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  that  they  had  taken, 
overtook  them  about  dinner-time.  They  first  came  up  with  the 
troops  under  Demosthenes,  who  were  behind  and  marching  some- 
what slowly  and  in  disorder,  owing  to  the  night-panic  above  referred 
to,  and  at  once  attacked  and  engaged  them,  the  Syracusan  horse 
surrounding  them  with  more  ease  now  that  they  were  separated 
from  the  rest,  and  hemming  them  in  on  one  spot.  The  division 
of  Nicias  was  five  or  six  miles  on  in  front,  as  he  led  them  more 
rapidly,  thinking  that  under  the  circumstances  their  safety  lay  not 
in  staying  and  fighting,  unless  obliged,  but  in  retreating  as  fast  as 
possible,  and  only  fighting  when  forced  to  do  so.  On  the  other 
hand,  Demosthenes  was,  generally  speaking,  harassed  more  inces- 
santly, as  his  post  in  the  rear  left  him  the  first  exposed  to  the 
attacks  of  the  enemy ;  and  now,  finding  that  the  Syracusans  were 
in  pursuit,  he  omitted  to  push  on,  in  order  to  form  his  men  for 
battle,  and  so  lingered  until  he  was  surrounded  by  his  pursuers 
and  himself  and  the  Athenians  with  him  placed  in  the  most  dis- 
tressing position,  being  huddled  into  an  enclosure  with  a  wall  all 
round  it,  a  road  on  this  side  and  on  that,  and  olive-trees  in  great 
number,  where  missiles  were  showered  in  upon  them  from  every 
c^uarter.     This   mode   of  attack  the    Syracusans    had   with    good 


412  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

reason  adopted  in  preference  to  fighting  at  close  quarters,  as  to 
risk  a  struggle  with  desperate  men  was  now  more  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  Athenians  than  for  their  own  ;  besides,  their  success 
had  now  become  so  certain  that  they  began  to  spare  themselves  a 
little  in  order  not  to  be  cut  off  in  the  moment  of  victory,  thinking 
too  that,  as  it  was,  they  would  be  able  in  this  way  to  subdue  and 
capture  the  enemy. 

In  fact,  after  plying  the  Athenians  and  allies  all  day  long  from 
every  side  with  missiles,  they  at  length  saw  that  they  were  worn 
out  with  their  wounds  and  other  sufferings  ;  and  Gylippus  and  the 
Syracusans  and  their  allies  made  a  proclamation,  offering  their 
liberty  to  any  of  the  islanders  who  chose  to  come  over  to  them  ; 
and  some  few  cities  went  over.  Afterwards  a  capitulation  was 
agreed  upon  for  all  the  rest  with  Demosthenes,  to  lay  down  their 
arms  on  condition  that  no  one  was  to  be  put  to  death  either  by 
violence  or  imprisonment  or  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  Upon 
this  they  surrendered  to  the  number  of  six  thousand  in  all,  laying 
down  all  the  money  in  their  possession,  which  filled  the  hollows 
of  four  shields,  and  were  immediately  conveyed  by  the  Syracusans 
to  the  town. 

Thucydides,  VII,  84-87 

As  soon  as  it  was  day  Nicias  put  his  army  in  motion,  pressed, 
as  before,  by  the  Syracusans  and  their  allies,  pelted  from  every 
side  by  their  missiles,  and  struck  down  by  their  javelins.  The 
Athenians  pushed  on  for  the  Assinarus,  impelled  by  the  attacks 
made  upon  them  from  every  side  by  a  numerous  cavalry  and  the 
swarm  of  other  arms,  fancying  that  they  should  breathe  more  freely 
if  once  across  the  river,  and  driven  on  also  by  their  exhaustion  and 
craving  for  water.  Once  there  they  rushed  in,  and  all  order  was 
at  an  end,  each  man  wanting  to  cross  first,  and  the  attacks  of  the 
enemy  making  it  difficult  to  cross  at  all ;  forced  to  huddle  together, 
they  fell  against  and  trod  down  one  another,  some  dying  immedi- 
ately upon  the  javelins,  others  getting  entangled  together  and  stum- 
bling over  the  articles  of  baggage,  without  being  able  to  rise  again. 
Meanwhile  the  opposite  bank,  which  was  steep,  was  lined  by  the 
Syracusans,  who   showered   missiles   down  upon  the  Athenians, 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  413 

most  of  them  drinking  greedily  and  heaped  together  in  disorder 
in  the  hollow  bed  of  the  river.  The  Peloponnesians  also  came 
down  and  butchered  them,  especially  those  in  the  water,  which  was 
thus  immediately  spoiled,  but  which  they  went  on  drinking  just 
the  same,  mud  and  all,  bloody  as  it  was,  most  even  fighting  to 
have  it. 

At  last,  when  many  dead  now  lay  piled  one  upon  another  in  the 
stream,  and  part  of  the  army  had  been  destroyed  at  the  river,  and 
the  few  that  escaped  from  thence  cut  off  by  the  cavalry,  Nicias 
surrendered  himself  to  Gylippus,  whom  he  trusted  more  than  he 
did  the  Syracusans,  and  told  him  and  the  Lacedaemonians  to  do 
what  they  liked  with  him,  but  to  stop  the  slaughter  of  the  soldiers. 
Gylippus,  after  this,  immediately  gave  orders  to  make  prisoners ; 
upon  which  the  rest  were  brought  together  alive,  except  a  large 
number  secreted  by  the  soldiery,  and  a  party  was  sent  in  pursuit 
of  the  three  hundred  who  had  got  through  the  guard  during  the 
night,  and  who  were  now  taken  with  the  rest.  The  number  of  the 
enemy  collected  as  public  property  was  not  considerable  ;  but  that 
secreted  was  very  large,  and  all  Sicily  was  filled  with  them,  no  con- 
vention having  been  made  in  their  case  as  for  those  taken  with 
Demosthenes.  Besides  this,  a  large  portion  were  killed  outright, 
the  carnage  being  very  great,  and  not  exceeded  by  any  in  this 
Sicilian  war.  In  the  numerous  other  encounters  upon  the  march, 
not  a  few  also  had  fallen.  Nevertheless  many  escaped,  some  at 
the  moment,  others  served  as  slaves,  and  then  ran  away  subse- 
quently.   These  found  refuge  at  Catana. 

The  Syracusans  and  their  allies  now  mustered  and  took  up  the 
spoils  and  as  many  prisoners  as  they  could,  and  went  back  to  the 
city.  The  rest  of  their  Athenian  and  allied  captives  were  deposited 
in  the  quarries,  this  seeming  the  safest  way  of  keeping  them  ;  but 
Nicias  and  Demosthenes  were  butchered,  against  the  will  of  Gylip- 
pus, who  thought  that  it  would  be  the  crown  of  his  triumph  if 
he  could  take  the  enemy's  generals  to  Lacedasmon.  One  of  them, 
as  it  happened,  Demosthenes,  was  one  of  her  greatest  enemies,  on 
account  of  the  affair  of  the  island  and  of  Pylos  ;  while  the  other, 
Nicias,  was  for  the  same  reasons  one  of  her  greatest  friends,  owing 
to  his  exertions  to  procure  the  release  of  the  prisoners  by  persuading 


414  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

the  Athenians  to  make  peace.  For  these  reasons  the  Lacedae- 
monians felt  kindly  towards  him ;  and  it  was  in  this  that  Nicias 
himself  mainly  confided  when  he  surrendered  to  Gylippus.  But 
some  of  the  Syracusans  who  had  been  in  correspondence  with  him 
were  afraid,  it  was  said,  of  his  being  put  to  the  torture  and  troub- 
ling their  success  by  his  revelations  ;  others,  especially  the  Corin- 
thians, of  his  escaping,  as  he  was  wealthy,  by  means  of  bribes,  and 
living  to  do  them  further  mischief  ;  and  these  persuaded  the  allies 
and  put  him  to  death.  This  or  the  like  was  the  cause  of  the  death 
of  a  man  who,  of  all  the  Hellenes  in  my  time,  least  deserved  such 
a  fate,  seeing  that  the  whole  course  of  his  life  had  been  regulated 
with  strict  attention  to  virtue. 

The  prisoners  in  the  quarries  were  at  first  hardly  treated  by  the 
Syracusans.  Crowded  in  a  narrow  hole,  without  any  roof  to  cover 
them,  the  heat  of  the  sun  and  the  stifling  closeness  of  the  air  tor- 
mented them  during  the  day,  and  then  the  nights,  which  came  on 
autumnal  and  chilly,  made  them  ill  by  the  violence  of  the  change ; 
besides,  as  they  had  to  do  everything  in  the  same  place  for  want 
of  room,  and  the  bodies  of  those  who  died  of  their  wounds  or  from 
the  variation  in  the  temperature,  or  from  similar  causes,  were  left 
heaped  together  one  upon  another,  intolerable  stenches  arose ; 
while  hunger  and  thirst  never  ceased  to  afflict  them,  each  man 
during  eight  months  having  only  half  a  pint  of  water  and  a  pint 
of  corn  given  him  daily.  In  short,  no  single  suffering  to  be  appre- 
hended by  men  thrust  into  such  a  place  was  spared  them.  For 
some  seventy  days  they  thus  lived  all  together,  after  which  all, 
except  the  Athenians  and  any  Siceliots  or  Italiots  who  had  joined 
in  the  expedition,  were  sold.  The  total  number  of  prisoners  taken 
it  would  be  difficult  to  state  exactly,  but  it  could  not  have  been  less 
than  seven  thousand. 

This  was  the  greatest  Hellenic  achievement  of  any  in  this  war, 
or,  in  my  opinion,  in  Hellenic  history  ;  at  once  most  glorious  to 
the  victors,  and  most  calamitous  to  the  conquered.  They  were 
beaten  at  all  points  and  altogether ;  all  that  they  suffered  was 
great;  they  were  destroyed,  as  the  saying  is,  with  a  total  destruc- 
tion, their  fleet,  their  army  —  everything  was  destroyed,  and  few 
out  of  many  returned  home. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  415 

Plutarch,  xV/aas,  26,  28 

But  among  the  many  miserable  spectacles  that  appeared  up  and 
down  in  the  camp,  the  saddest  sight  of  all  was  Nicias  himself, 
labouring  under  his  malady,  and  unworthily  reduced  to  the  scanti- 
est supply  of  all  the  accommodations  necessary  for  human  wants, 
of  which  he  in  his  condition  required  more  than  ordinary,  because 
of  his  sickness  ;  yet  bearing  up  under  all  this  illness,  and  doing 
and  undergoing  more  than  many  in  perfect  health.  And  it  was 
plainly  evident  that  all  this  toil  was  not  for  himself,  or  from  any 
regard  to  his  own  life,  but  that  purely  for  the  sake  of  those  under 
his  command  he  would  not  abandon  hope.  And,  indeed,  the  rest 
w^ere  given  over  to  weeping  and  lamentation  through  fear  or  sorrow, 
but  he,  whenever  he  yielded  to  anything  of  the  kind,  did  so,  it  was 
evident,  from  reflection  upon  the  shame  and  dishonour  of  the  en- 
terprise, contrasted  with  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the  success  he 
had  anticipated,  and  not  only  the  sight  of  his  person,  but,  also,  the 
recollection  of  the  arguments  and  the  dissuasions  he  used  to  pre- 
vent this  expedition  enhanced  their  sense  of  the  undeservedness 
of  his  sufferings,  nor  had  they  any  heart  to  put  their  trust  in  the 
gods,  considering  that  a  man  so  religious,  who  had  performed  to 
the  divine  powers  so  many  and  so  great  acts  of  devotion,  should 
have  no  more  favourable  treatment  than  the  wickedest  and  meanest 
of  the  army. 

Nicias,  however,  endeavoured  all  the  while  by  his  voice,  his 
countenance,  and  his  carriage,  to  show  himself  undefeated  by 
these  misfortunes.   .  .   . 

Timaeus  says  that  Demosthenes  and  Nicias  did  not  die,  as  Thu- 
cydides  and  Philistus  have  written,  by  the  order  of  the  Syracusans, 
but  that  upon  a  message  sent  them  from  Hermocrates,  whilst  yet 
the  assembly  were  sitting,  by  the  connivance  of  some  of  their 
guards,  they  were  enabled  to  put  an  end  to  themselves.  Their 
bodies,  however,  were  thrown  out  before  the  gates  and  offered  for 
a  public  spectacle.  And  I  have  heard  that  to  this  day  in  a  temple 
at  Syracuse  is  shown  a  shield,  said  to  have  been  Nicias's,  curiously 
wrought  and  embroidered  with  gold  and  purple  intermixed. 


CHAPTER  XII 

ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER 

The  effect  on  Athens  —  The  Decelean  War — Spartan  activity  —  The  Samian 
democracy  —  Alcibiades — His  recall  from  Sicily  —  Negotiations  with  Tissa- 
phernes  —  His  recall  to  Athens  —  Personal  characteristics — -Tendency  toward 
oligarchy — •  Removal  of  opponents  —  Pisander  and  Antiphon  —  The  Four  Hun- 
dred—  Phrynichus  —  The  fall  of  Athens — Arginusae  and  the  condemnation  of 
the  generals  —  /Egospotami  and  its  results  —  Terms  of  the  treaty  —  The  Thirty  — 
Theramenes  and  Critias —  Fall  and  amnesty —  Conditions  under  the  Four  Hun- 
dred and  the  Thirty  —  Unconstitutional  measures  —  Treatment  of  the  metics  — 
Destruction  of  property 

I.    The  Effect  on  Athens 

The  Athenians  did  not  at  first  believe  this  terrible  news  of  the 
disaster,  but  when  the  truth  of  it  was  finally  forced  on  them  they 
became  desperate  and  resolved  to  go  on  with  the  war  and  resist 
to  the  bitter  end. 

Thiicydides,  VIII,  1-2 

Such  were  the  events  in  Sicily.  When  the  news  was  brought  to 
Athens,  for  a  long  while  they  disbelieved  even  the  most  respectable 
of  the  soldiers  who  had  themselves  escaped  from  the  scene  of  action 
and  clearly  reported  the  matter,  a  destruction  so  complete  not  being 
thought  credible.  When  the  conviction  was  forced  upon  them,  they 
were  angry  with  the  orators  who  had  joined  in  promoting  the  ex- 
pedition, just  as  if  they  had  not  themselves  voted  it,  and  were 
enraged  also  with  the  reciters  of  oracles  and  soothsayers,  and  all 
other  omen-mongers  of  the  time  who  had  encouraged  them  to  hope 
that  they  should  conquer  Sicily.  Already  distressed  at  all  points 
and  in  all  quarters,  after  what  had  now  happened,  they  were  seized 
by  a  fear  and  consternation  quite  without  example.  It  was  grievous 
enough  for  the  state  and  for  every  man  in  his  proper  person  to  lose 
so  many  heavy  infantry,  cavalry,  and  able-bodied  troops,  and  to  see 
none  left  to  replace  them ;  but  when  they  saw,  also,  that  they  had 

416 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER  417 

not  sufficient  ships  in  their  docks,  or  money  in  the  treasury-,  or 
crews  for  the  ships,  they  began  to  despair  of  salvation.  They 
thought  that  their  enemies  in  Sicily  would  immediately  sail  with 
their  fleet  against  Piraeus,  inflamed  by  so  signal  a  victory ;  while 
their  adversaries  at  home,  redoubling  all  their  preparations,  would 
vigorously  attack  them  by  sea  and  land  at  once,  aided  by  their 
own  revolted  confederates.  Nevertheless,  with  such  means  as  they 
had,  it  was  determined  to  resist  to  the  last,  and  to  provide  timber 
and  money,  and  to  equip  a  fleet  as  they  best  could,  to  take  steps 
to  secure  their  confederates  and  above  all  Euboea,  to  reform  things 
in  the  city  upon  a  more  economical  footing,  and  to  elect  a  board 
of  elders  to  advise  upon  the  state  of  affairs  as  occasion  should  arise. 
In  short,  as  is  the  way  of  a  democracy,  in  the  panic  of  the  moment 
they  were  ready  to  be  as  prudent  as  possible. 

These  resolves  were  at  once  carried  into  effect.  Summer  was 
now  over.  The  winter  ensuing  saw  all  Hellas  stirring  under  the 
impression  of  the  great  Athenian  disaster  in  Sicily.  Neutrals  now 
felt  that  even  if  uninvited  they  ought  no  longer  to  stand  aloof  from 
the  war,  but  should  volunteer  to  march  against  the  Athenians,  who 
as  they  severally  reflected,  would  probably  have  come  against  them 
if  the  Sicilian  campaign  had  succeeded.  Besides,  they  considered 
that  the  war  would  now  be  short,  and  that  it  would  be  creditable 
for  them  to  take  part  in  it.  Meanwhile  the  allies  of  the  Lacedae- 
monians felt  all  more  anxious  than  ever  to  see  a  speedy  end  to 
their  heavy  labours.  But  above  all,  the  subjects  of  the  Athenians 
showed  a  readiness  to  revolt  even  beyond  their  ability,  judging  the 
circumstances  with  passion,  and  refusing  even  to  hear  of  the  Athe- 
nians being  able  to  last  out  the  coming  summer.  Beyond  all  this, 
Lacedaemon  was  encouraged  by  the  near  prospect  of  being  joined 
in  great  force  in  the  spring  by  her  allies  in  Sicily,  lately  forced  by 
events  to  acquire  their  navy.  With  these  reasons  for  confidence  in 
every  quarter,  the  Lacedaemonians  now  resolved  to  throw  themselves 
without  reserve  into  the  war,  considering  that,  once  it  was  happily 
terminated,  they  would  be  finally  delivered  from  such  dangers  as  that 
which  would  have  threatened  them  from  Athens,  if  she  had  become 
mistress  of  Sicily,  and  that  the  overthrow  of  the  Athenians  would 
leave  them  in  quiet  enjoyment  of  the  supremacy  over  all  Hellas, 


41 8  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

II.    The  Decelean  War 

1.  SPARTAN  ACTIVITY 

Sparta  gained  a  strong  ally  in  Alcibiades,  who  had  traitorously 
abandoned  his  own  country  and  was  pointing  out  to  the  Lacedae- 
monians the  most  vulnerable  points  of  Athens.  Decelea,  a  valuable 
strategic  point,  was  seized  and  fortified  by  them  to  serve  as  a  base 
while  the  Spartan  armies  plundered  the  lands  of  the  Athenians. 

Thucydides,  VI,  gi 

[Alcibiades  to  the  Spartans]  "Meanwhile  you  must  carry  on  the 
war  here  more  openly,  that  the  Syracusans  seeing  that  you  do  not 
forget  them,  may  put  heart  into  their  resistance,  and  that  the  Athe- 
nians may  be  less  able  to  reinforce  their  armament.  You  must 
fortify  Decelea  in  Attica,  the  blow  of  which  the  Athenians  are 
always  most  afraid  and  the  only  one  that  they  think  they  have 
not  experienced  in  the  present  war ;  the  surest  method  of  harm- 
ing an  enemy  being  to  find  out  what  he  most  fears,  and  to  choose 
this  means  of  attacking  him,  since  every  one  naturally  knows  best 
his  own  weak  points  and  fears  accordingly.  The  fortification  in 
question,  while  it  benefits  you,  will  create  difficulties  for  your  ad- 
versaries, of  which  I  shall  pass  over  many,  and  shall  only  mention 
the  chief.  Whatever  property  there  is  in  the  country  will  most  of 
it  become  yours,  either  by  capture  or  surrender ;  and  the  Athe- 
nians will  at  once  be  deprived  of  their  revenues  from  the  silver 
mines  at  Laurium,  of  their  present  gains  from  their  land  and  from 
the  law  courts,  and  above  all  of  the  revenue  from  their  allies,  which 
will  be  paid  less  regularly,  as  they  lose  their  awe  of  Athens,  and 
see  you  addressing  yourselves  with  vigour  to  the  war.  The  zeal 
and  speed  with  which  all  this  shall  be  done  depends,  Lacedae- 
monians, upon  yourselves  ;  as  to  its  possibility,  I  am  quite  confi- 
dent, and  I  have  little  fear  of  being  mistaken." 

Thucydides^  VII,  19 

In  the  first  days  of  the  spring  following,  at  an  earlier  period 
than  usual,  the  Lacedaemonians  and  their  allies  invaded  Attica, 
under  the  command  of  Agis,  son  of  Archidamus,   king  of  the 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILLA.N  DISASTER  419 

Lacedaemonians.  They  began  by  devastating  the  parts  bordering 
upon  the  plain,  and  next  proceeded  to  fortify  Decelea,  dividing 
the  work  among  the  different  cities.  Decelea  is  about  thirteen  or 
fourteen  miles  from  the  city  of  Athens,  and  the  same  distance  or 
not  much  further  from  Boeotia  ;  and  the  fort  was  meant  to  annoy 
the  plain  and  the  richest  parts  of  the  country,  being  in  sight  of 
Athens.  While  the  Peloponnesians  and  their  allies  in  Attica  were 
engaged  in  the  work  of  fortification,  their  jcountrymen  at  home 
sent  off,  at  about  the  same  time,  the  heavy  infantry  in  the  mer- 
chant vessels  to  Sicily. 

Thucydides,  VH,  27-28 

This  same  summer  arrived  at  Athens  thirteen  hundred  targeteers, 
Thracian  swordsmen  of  the  tribe  of  the  Dii,  who  were  to  have 
sailed  to  Sicily  with  Demosthenes.  Since  they  had  come  too  late, 
the  Athenians  determined  to  send  them  back  to  Thrace,  whence 
they  had  come  ;  to  keep  them  for  the  Decelean  war  appearing  too 
expensive,  as  the  pay  of  each  man  was  a  drachma  a  day.  Indeed 
since  Decelea  had  been  first  fortified  by  the  whole  Peloponnesian 
army  during  this  summer,  and  then  occupied  for  the  annoyance  of 
the  country  by  the  garrisons  from  the  cities  relieving  each  other  at 
stated  intervals  it  had  been  doing  great  mischief  to  the  Athenians  ; 
in  fact  this  occupation,  by  the  destruction  of  property  and  loss  of 
men  which  resulted  from  it,  was  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  their 
ruin.  Previously  the  invasions  were  short,  and  did  not  prevent 
their  enjoying  their  land  during  the  rest  of  the  time  :  the  enemy 
was  now  permanently  fixed  in  Attica  ;  at  one  time  it  was  an  attack 
in  force,  at  another  it  was  the  regular  garrison  overrunning  the 
country  and  making  forays  for  its  subsistence,  and  the  Lacedaemo- 
nian king,  Agis,  was  in  the  field  and  diligently  prosecuting  the  war  ; 
great  mischief  was  therefore  done  to  the  Athenians,  They  were 
deprived  of  their  whole  country  :  more  than  twenty  thousand  slaves 
had  deserted,  a  great  part  of  them  artisans,  and  all  their  sheep  and 
beasts  of  burden  were  lost ;  and  as  the  cavalry  rode  out  daily  upon 
excursions  to  Decelea  and  to  guard  the  country,  their  horses  were 
either  lamed  by  being  constantly  worked  upon  rocky  ground,  or 
wounded  by  the  enemy. 


420  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Besides,  the  transport  of  provisions  from  Euboea,  which  had  be- 
fore been  carried  on  so  much  more  quickly  over  land  by  Decelea 
from  Oropus,  was  now  effected  at  great  cost  by  sea  round  Sunium  ; 
everything  the  city  required  had  to  be  imported  from  abroad,  and 
instead  of  a  city  it  became  a  fortress.  Summer  and  winter  the 
Athenians  were  worn  out  by  having  to  keep  guard  on  the  fortifica- 
tions, during  the  day  by  turns,  by  night  all  together,  the  cavalry 
excepted,  at  the  different  military  posts  or  upon  the  wall.  But  what 
most  oppressed  them  was  that  they  had  two  wars  at  once,  and  had 
thus  reached  a  pitch  of  frenzy  which  no  one  would  have  believed 
possible  if  he  had  heard  of  it  before  it  had  come  to  pass.  For 
could  any  one  have  imagined  that  even  when  besieged  by  the 
Peloponnesians  entrenched  in  Attica,  they  would  still,  instead  of 
withdrawing  from  Sicily,  stay  on  there  besieging  in  like  manner 
Syracuse,  a  town  (taken  as  a  town)  in  no  way  inferior  to  Athens, 
or  would  so  thoroughly  upset  the  Hellenic  estimate  of  their  strength 
and  audacity,  as  to  give  the  spectacle  of  a  people  which,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  some  thought  might  hold  out  one  year, 
some  two,  none  more  than  three,  if  the  Peloponnesians  invaded 
their  country,  now  seventeen  years  after  the  first  invasion,  after 
having  already  suffered  from  all  the  evils  of  war,  going  to  Sicily 
and  undertaking  a  new  war  nothing  inferior  to  that  which  they 
already  had  with  the  Peloponnesians  ?  These  causes,  the  great 
losses  from  Decelea,  and  the  other  heavy  charges  that  fell  upon 
them,  produced  their  financial  embarrassment ;  and  it  was  at  this 
time  that  they  imposed  upon  their  subjects,  instead  of  the  tribute, 
the  tax  of  a  twentieth  upon  all  imports  and  exports  by  sea,  which 
they  thought  would  bring  them  in  more  money ;  their  expenditure 
being  now  not  the  same  as  at  first,  but  having  grown  with  the  war 
while  their  revenues  decayed. 

Thucydides,  VIII,  69-70 

On  account  of  the  enemy  at  Decelea,  all  the  Athenians  were 
constantly  on  the  wall  or  in  the  ranks  at  the  various  military  posts. 
On  that  day  the  persons  not  in  the  secret  were  allowed  to  go  home 
as  usual,  while  orders  were  given  to  the  accomplices  of  the  con- 
spirators to  hang  about,  without  making  any  demonstration,  at 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         421 

some  little  distance  from  the  posts,  and  in  case  of  any  opposition 
to  what  was  being  done,  to  seize  the  arms  and  put  it  down.  There 
were  also  some  Andrians  and  Tenians,  three  hundred  Carystians, 
and  some  of  the  settlers  in  /Egina  come  with  their  own  arms  for 
this  very  purpose,  who  had  received  similar  instructions.  These 
dispositions  completed,  the  Four  Hundred  went,  each  with  a  dag- 
ger concealed  about  his  person,  accompanied  by  one  hundred  and 
twenty  Hellenic  youths,  whom  they  employed  wherever  violence 
was  needed,  and  appeared  before  the  Councillors  of  the  Bean  in 
the  council  chamber,  and  told  them  to  take  their  pay  and  be  gone ; 
themselves  bringing  it  for  the  whole  of  the  residue  of  their  term 
of  ofifice,  and  giving  it  to  them  as  they  went  out. 

Upon  the  Council  withdrawing  in  this  way  without  venturing 
any  objection,  and  the  rest  of  the  citizens  making  no  movement, 
the  Four  Hundred  entered  the  council  chamber,  and  for  the  pres- 
ent contented  themselves  with  drawing  lots  for  their  Prytanes,  and 
making  their  prayers  and  sacrifices  to  the  gods  upon  entering  office, 
but  afterwards  departed  widely  from  the  democratic  system  of  gov- 
ernment, and  except  that  on  account  of  Alcibiades  they  did  not  re- 
call the  exiles,  ruled  the  city  by  force ;  putting  to  death  some  men, 
though  not  many,  whom  they  thought  it  convenient  to  remove,  and 
imprisoning  and  banishing  others.  They  also  sent  to  Agis,  the 
Lacedaemonian  king,  at  Decelea,  to  say  that  they  desired  to  make 
peace,  and  that  he  might  reasonably  be  more  disposed  to  treat  now 
that  he  had  them  to  deal  with  instead  of  the  inconstant  commons. 

2.   THE  SAMIAN  DEMOCRACY 

It  was  very  difficult  to  keep  the  allies  in  hand,  and  frequent  rev- 
olutions took  place  on  the  islands.  The  strong  factional  feeling, 
democrats  against  oligarchs,  ran  very  high  in  a  great  number  of 
these  places  as  well  as  at  Athens. 

Thucydides,  VIII,  21 

About  this  time  took  place  the  rising  of  the  commons  at  Samos 
against  the  upper  classes,  in  concert  with  some  Athenians,  who 
were  there  in  three  vessels.    The  Samian  commons  put  to  death 


422  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

some  two  hundred  in  all  of  the  upper  classes,  and  banished  four 
hundred  more,  and  themselves  took  their  land  and  houses  ;  after 
which  the  Athenians  decreed  their  independence,  being  now  sure 
of  their  fidelity,  and  the  commons  henceforth  governed  the  city, 
excluding  the  landholders  from  all  share  in  affairs,  and  forbidding 
any  of  the  commons  to  give  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  them  or 
to  take  a  wife  from  them  in  future. 


III.    Alcibiades 

1.  HIS   RECALL  FROM  SICILY 
Alcibiades  had  not  been  brought  to  trial  before  the  ships  set  out 
for  Sicily,  but  when  further  evidence  had  been  produced  he  was 
sent  for  by  a  government  vessel.    He  went  instead  to  Sparta,  where 
he  aided  the  Lacedaemonians  as  above  stated. 

T/iucydides,  VI,  53 

There  they  found  the  Salaminia  come  from  Athens  for  Alcibiades, 
with  orders  for  him  to  sail  home  to  answer  the  charges  which  the 
state  brought  against  him,  and  for  certain  others  of  the  soldiers 
who  with  him  were  accused  of  sacrilege  in  the  matter  of  the 
mysteries  and  of  the  Hermae.  For  the  Athenians,  after  the  depar- 
ture of  the  expedition,  had  continued  as  active  as  ever  in  in- 
vestigating the  facts  of  the  mysteries  and  of  the  Hermae,  and, 
instead  of  testing  the  informers,  in  their  suspicious  temper  welcomed 
all  indifferently,  arresting  and  imprisoning  the  best  citizens  upon 
the  evidence  of  rascals,  and  preferring  to  sift  the  matter  to  the 
bottom  sooner  than  to  let  an  accused  person  of  good  character  pass 
unquestioned,  owing  to  the  rascality  of  the  informer. 

2.  NEGOTIATIONS  WITH  TISSAPHERNES 
It  is  no  easy  task  to  follow  the  movements  of  Alcibiades,  whom 

we  find  one  day  at  Sparta,  the  next  with  Tissaphernes  in  Asia 

Minor,  then  in  Samos. 

His  recall  was  strongly  advocated  by  some  who  regarded  him  as 

the  one  man  capable  of  setting  the  state  in  order,  for  at  this  time 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         433 

the  utmost  confusion  prevailed.  He  was  accordingly  escorted  back 
and  returned  in  triumph  as  the  leader  of  one  party,  though  bitterly 
hated  by  others.  His  eloquence,  persuasiveness,  and  magnetic  per- 
sonality soon  won  over  the  assembly,  which  made  him  their  leader. 
Whatever  we  may  think  of  his  statesmanship,  there  is  no  doubt 
of  his  fascination  and  almost  irresistible  charm. 

Thucydides,  VIII,  45-47 

After  the  death  of  Chalcideus  and  the  battle  at  Miletus, 
Alcibiades  began  to  be  suspected  by  the  Peloponnesians  ;  and 
Astyochus  received  from  Lacedaemon  an  order  from  them  to  put 
him  to  death,  he  being  the  personal  enemy  of  Agis,  and  in  other 
respects  thought  unworthy  of  confidence.  Alcibiades  in  his  alarm 
first  withdrew  to  Tissaphernes,  and  immediately  began  to  do  all 
he  could  with  him  to  injure  the  Peloponnesian  cause.  .   .  . 

Alcibiades  further  advised  Tissaphernes  not  to  be  in  too  great 
a  hurry  to  end  the  war,  or  to  let  himself  be  persuaded  to  bring  up 
the  Phoenician  fleet  which  he  was  equipping,  or  to  provide  pay  for 
more  Hellenes,  and  thus  put  the  power  by  land  and  sea  into  the 
same  hands  ;  but  to  leave  each  of  the  contending  parties  in  posses- 
sion of  one  element,  thus  enabling  the  king  when  he  found  one 
troublesome  to  call  in  the  other.  For  if  the  command  of  the  sea 
and  land  were  united  in  one  hand,  he  would  not  know  where  •  to 
turn  for  help  to  overthrow  the  dominant  power ;  unless  he  at  last 
chose  to  stand  up  himself,  and  go  through  with  the  struggle  at 
great  expense  and  hazard.  The  cheapest  plan  was  to  let  the 
Hellenes  wear  each  other  out,  at  a  small  share  of  the  expense  and 
without  risk  to  himself.  Besides,  he  would  find  the  Athenians  the 
most  convenient  partners  in  empire  as  they  did  not  aim  at  conquests 
on  shore,  and  carried  on  the  war  upon  principles  and  with  a  prac- 
tice most  advantageous  to  the  king  ;  being  prepared  to  combine  to 
conquer  the  sea  for  Athens,  and  for  the  king  all  the  Hellenes 
inhabiting  his  country,  whom  the  Peloponnesians,  on  the  contrary, 
had  come  to  liberate.  Now  it  was  not  likely  that  the  Lacedaemonians 
would  free  the  Hellenes  from  the  Hellenic  Athenians,  without 
freeing  them  also  from  the  barbarian  Mede,  unless  overthrown  by 


424  READINGS  IN  GREEK   HISTORY 

him  in  the  meanwhile.  Alcibiades  therefore  urged  him  to  wear 
them  both  out  at  first,  and  after  docking  the  Athenian  power  as 
much  as  he  could,  forthwith  to  rid  the  country  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesians.  .  .  . 

Alcibiades  gave  this  advice  to  Tissaphernes  and  the  king,  with 
whom  he  then  was,  not  merely  because  he  thought  it  really  the 
best,  but  because  he  was  studying  means  to  effect  his  restoration 
to  his  country,  well  knowing  that  if  he  did  not  destroy  it  he  might 
one  day  hope  to  persuade  the  Athenians  to  recall  him,  and  thinking 
that  his  best  chance  of  persuading  them  lay  in  letting  them  see 
that  he  possessed  the  favour  of  Tissaphernes.  The  event  proved 
him  to  be  right.  When  the  Athenians  at  Samos  found  that  he  had 
influence  with  Tissaphernes,  principally  of  their  own  motion  (though 
partly  also  through  Alcibiades  himself  sending  word  to  their  chief 
men  to  tell  the  best  men  in  the  army,  that  if  there  were  only  an 
oligarchy  in  the  place  of  the  rascally  democracy  that  had  banished 
him,  he  would  be  glad  to  return  to  his  country  and  to  make 
Tissaphernes  their  friend),  the  captains  and  chief  men  in  the 
armament  at  once  embraced  the  idea  of  subverting  the  democracy. 

The  design  was  first  mooted  in  the  camp,  and  afterwards  from 
thence  reached  the  city.  Some  persons  crossed  over  from  Samos 
and  had  an  interview  with  Alcibiades,  who  immediately  offered  to 
make  first  Tissaphernes,  and  afterwards  the  king,  their  friend,  if 
they  would  give  up  the  democracy,  and  make  it  possible  for  the 
king  to  trust  them.  The  higher  class,  who  also  suffered  most 
severely  from  the  war,  now  conceived  great  hopes  of  getting  the 
government  into  their  own  hands,  and  of  triumphing  over  the 
enemy.  Upon  their  return  to  Samos  the  emissaries  formed  their 
partisans  into  a  club,  and  openly  told  the  mass  of  the  armament 
that  the  king  would  be  their  friend,  and  would  provide  them  with 
money,  if  Alcibiades  were  restored,  and  the  democracy  abolished. 

3.  HIS  RECALL  TO  ATHENS 
Thiicydides,  VIII,  53 

While  Alcibiades  was  besieging  the  favour  of  Tissaphernes  with 
an  earnestness  proportioned  to  the  greatness  of  the  issue,  the  Athe- 
nian envoys  who  had  been  despatched  from  Samos  with  Pisander 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER  425 

arrived  at  Athens,  and  made  a  speech  before  the  people,  giving 
a  brief  summary  of  their  views,  and  particularly  insisting  that  if 
Alcibiades  were  recalled  and  the  democratic  constitution  changed, 
they  could  have  the  king  as  their  all)-,  and  would  be  able  to  over- 
come the  Peloponnesians.  A  number  of  speakers  opposed  them 
on  the  question  of  the  democracy,  the  enemies  of  Alcibiades  cried 
out  against  the  scandal  of  a  restoration  to  be  effected  by  a  violation 
of  the  constitution,  and  the  Eumolpidae  and  Ceryces  protested  in 
behalf  of  the  mysteries,  the  cause  of  his  banishment,  and  called 
upon  the  gods  to  avert  his  recall ;  when  Pisander,  in  the  midst  of 
much  opposition  and  abuse,  came  forward,  and  taking  each  of  his 
opponents  aside  asked  him  the  following  question  : —  In  the  face 
of  the  fact  that  the  Peloponnesians  had  as  many  ships  as  their  own 
confronting  them  at  sea,  more  cities  in  alliance  with  them,  and  the 
king  and  Tissaphernes  to  supply  them  with  money,  of  which  the 
Athenians  had  none  left,  had  he  any  hope  of  saving  the  state, 
unless  some  one  could  induce  the  king  to  come  over  to  their  side  ? 
Upon  their  replying  that  they  had  not,  he  then  plainly  said  to 
them  :  ' '  This  we  cannot  have  unless  we  have  a  more  moderate 
form  of  government,  and  put  the  offices  into  fewer  hands,  and  so 
gain  the  king's  confidence,  and  forthwith  restore  Alcibiades,  who 
is  the  only  man  living  that  can  bring  this  about.  The  safety  of  the 
state,  not  the  form  of  its  government,  is  for  the  moment  the  most 
pressing  question,  as  we  can  always  change  afterwards  whatever 
we  do  not  like." 

Xenophon,  Helleriica,  I,  iv,  11-23 

Meanwhile  Alcibiades,  with  the  moneys  lately  collected  and  his 
fleet  of  twenty  ships,  left  Samos  and  visited  Paros.  P""rom  Paros 
he  stood  out  to  sea  across  to  Gytheum,  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  thirty 
ships  of  war  which,  as  he  was  informed,  the  Lacedaemonians  were 
equipping  in  that  arsenal.  Gytheum  would  also  be  a  favourable 
point  of  observation  from  which  to  gauge  the  disposition  of  his 
fellow-countrymen  and  the  prospects  of  his  recall.  When  at  length 
their  good  disposition  seemed  to  him  established,  not  only  by  his 
election  as  general,  but  by  the  messages  of  invitation  which  he 
received  in  private  from  his  friends,  he  sailed  home,  and  entered 


426  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Piraeus  on  the  very  day  of  the  festival  of  the  Plunteria,  when  the 
statue  of  Athena  is  veiled  and  screened  from  public  gaze.  This  was 
a  coincidence,  as  some  thought,  of  evil  omen,  and  unpropitious 
alike  to  himself  and  the  State,  for  no  Athenian  would  transact 
serious  business  on  such  a  day. 

As  he  sailed  into  the  harbour,  two  great  crowds  —  one  from 
the  Piraeus,  the  other  from  the  city  —  flocked  to  meet  the  vessels. 
Wonderment,  mixed  with  a  desire  to  see  Alcibiades,  was  the  pre- 
vailing sentiment  of  the  multitude.  Of  him  they  spoke  :  some 
asserting  that  he  was  the  best  of  citizens,  and  that  in  his  sole  in- 
stance banishment  had  been  ill-deserved.  He  had  been  the  victim 
of  plots,  hatched  in  the  brains  of  people  less  able  than  himself, 
however  much  they  might  excel  in  pestilent  speech  ;  men  whose 
one  principle  of  statecraft  was  to  look  to  their  private  gains  ; 
whereas  this  man's  policy  had  ever  been  to  uphold  the  common 
weal,  as  much  by  his  private  means  as  by  all  the  power  of  the  State. 
His  own  choice,  eight  years  ago,  when  the  charge  of  impiety  in  the 
matter  of  the  mysteries  was  still  fresh,  would  have  been  to  submit 
to  trial  at  once.  It  was  his  personal  foes,  who  had  succeeded  in 
postponing  that  undeniably  just  procedure  ;  who  waited  till  his  back 
was  turned,  and  then  robbed  him  of  his  fatherland.  Then  it  was 
that,  being  made  the  very  slave  of  circumstance,  he  was  driven  to 
court  the  men  he  hated  most ;  and  at  a  time  when  his  own  life  was 
in  daily  peril,  he  must  see  his  dearest  friends  and  fellow-citizens, 
nay,  the  very  State  itself,  bent  on  a  suicidal  course,  and  yet,  in 
the  exclusion  of  exile,  be  unable  to  lend  a  helping  hand.  "It  is 
not  men  of  this  stamp,"  they  averred,  "  who  desire  changes  in 
affairs  and  revolution  :  had  he  not  already  guaranteed  to  him  by 
the  Democracy  a  position  higher  than  that  of  his  equals  in  age, 
and  scarcely  if  at  all  inferior  to  his  seniors  ?  How  different  was 
the  position  of  his  enemies.  It  had  been  the  fortune  of  these, 
though  they  were  known  to  be  the  same  men  they  had  always 
been,  to  use  their  lately  acquired  power  for  the  destruction  in  the 
first  instance  of  the  better  classes  ;  and  then,  being  alone  left  sur- 
viving, to  be  accepted  by  their  fellow-citizens  in  the  absence  of 
better  men." 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         427 

Others,  however,  insisted  that  for  all  their  past  miseries  and 
misfortunes  Alcibiades  alone  was  responsible  :  "If  more  trials  were 
still  in  store  for  the  State,  here  was  the  master  mischief-maker 
ready  at  his  post  to  precipitate  them," 

When  the  vessels  came  to  their  moorings,  close  to  the  land,' 
Alcibiades,  from  fear  of  his  enemies,  was  unwilling  to  disembark 
at  once.  Mounting  on  the  quarterdeck,  he  scanned  the  multitude, 
anxious  to  make  certain  of  the  presence  of  his  friends.  Presently 
his  eyes  lit  upon  Euryptolemus,  the  son  of  Peisianax,  who  was  his 
cousin,  and  then  on  the  rest  of  his  relations  and  other  friends. 
Upon  this  he  landed,  and  so,  in  the  midst  of  an  escort  ready  to 
put  down  any  attempt  upon  his  person,  made  his  way  to  the  city. 

In  the  Senate  and  Public  Assembly  he  made  speeches,  defending 
himself  against  the  charge  of  impiety,  and  asserting  that  he  had 
been  the  victim  of  injustice,  with  other  like  topics,  which  in  the 
present  temper  of  the  assembly  no  one  ventured  to  gainsay. 

He  was  then  formally  declared  leader  and  chief  of  the  State, 
with  irresponsible  powers,  as  being  the  sole  individual  capable  of 
recovering  the  ancient  pow-er  and  prestige  of  Athens.  Armed  with 
this  authority,  his  first  act  was  to  institute  anew  the  processional 
march  to  Eleusis  ;  for  of  late  years,  owing  to  the  war,  the  Athenians 
had  been  forced  to  conduct  the  mysteries  by  sea.  Now,  at  the  head 
of  the  troops,  he  caused  them  to  be  conducted  once  again  by  land. 
This  done,  his  next  step  was  to  muster  an  armament  of  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  heavy  infantry,  one  hundred  and  fifty  cavalry, 
and  one  hundred  ships  ;  and  lastly,  within  three  months  of  his 
return,  he  set  sail  for  Andros,  which  had  revolted  from  Athens. 

The  generals  chosen  to  co-operate  with  him  on  land  were 
Aristocrates  and  Adeimantus,  the  son  of  Leucolophides.  He  dis- 
embarked his  troops  on  the  island  of  Andros  at  Gaurium,  and 
routed  the  Andrian  citizens  who  sallied  out  from  the  town  to  resist 
the  invader ;  forcing  them  to  return  and  keep  close  within  their 
walls,  though  the  number  who  fell  was  not  large.  This  defeat  was 
shared  by  some  Lacedaemonians  who  were  in  the  place.  Alcibiades 
erected  a  trophy,  and  after  a  few  days  set  sail  himself  for  Samos, 
which  became  his  base  of  operations  in  the  future  conduct  of  the  war. 


428  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

4.  PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 
Plutarch,  Alcibiades,  11-12,  16 

His  expenses  in  horses  kept  for  the  pubhc  games,  and  in  the 
.  number  of  his  chariots,  were  matter  of  great  observation  ;  never  did 
any  one  but  he,  either  private  person  or  king,  send  seven  chariots 
to  the  Olympic  games.  And  to  have  carried  away  at  once  the  first, 
the  second,  and  the  fourth  prize,  as  Thucydides  says,  or  the  third, 
as  Euripides  relates  it,  outdoes  far  away  every  distinction  that  ever 
was  known  or  thought  of  in  that  kind.  Euripides  celebrates  his 
success  in  this  manner:  — 

—  But  my  song  to  you, 
Son  of  Clinias,  is  due. 
Victory  is  noble;  how  much  more 
To  do  as  never  Greek  before  ; 
To  obtain  in  the  great  chariot-race 
The  first,  the  second,  and  third  place ; 
With  easy  step  advanced  to  fame 
To  bid  the  herald  three  times  claim 
The  olive  for  one  victor's  name. 

The  emulation  displayed  by  the  deputations  of  various  states  in  the 
presents  which  they  made  to  liim  rendered  this  success  yet  more 
illustrious.  The  Ephesians  erected  a  tent  for  him,  adorned  mag- 
nificently; the  city  of  Chios  furnished  him  with  provender  for  his 
horses  and  with  great  numbers  of  beasts  for  sacrifice ;  and  the 
Lesbians  sent  him  wine  and  other  provisions  for  the  many  great 
entertainments  which  he  made.  Yet  in  the  midst  of  all  this  he 
escaped  not  without  censure,  occasioned  either  by  the  ill-nature 
of  his  enemies  or  by  his  own  misconduct.  For  it  is  said,  that  one 
Diomedes,  an  Athenian,'  a  worthy  man  and  a  friend  to  Alcibiades, 
passionately  desiring  to  obtain  the  victory  at  the  Olympic  games,  and 
having  heard  much  of  a  chariot  which  belonged  to  the  state  at  Argos, 
where  he  knew  that  Alcibiades  had  great  power  and  many  friends, 
prevailed  with  him  to  undertake  to  buy  the  chariot.  Alcibiades  did 
indeed  buy  it,  but  then  claimed  it  for  his  own,  leaving  Diomedes  to 
rage  at  him,  and  to  call  upon  the  gods  and  men  to  bear  witness  to 
the  injustice.  It  would  seem  there  was  a  suit  at  law  commenced  upon 
this  occasion,  and  there  is  yet  extant  an  oration  concerning  the 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         429 

chariot,  written  by  Isocrates  in  defence  of  the  son  of  Alcibiades.  But 
the  plaintiff  in  this  action  is  named  Tisias,  and  not  Diomedes.  .  .  . 
But  with  all  these  words  and  deeds,  and  with  all  this  sagacity 
and  eloquence,  he  intermingled  exorbitant  luxury  and  wantonness, 
in  his  eating  and  drinking  and  dissolute  living  ;  wore  long  purple 
robes  like  a  woman,  which  dragged  after  him  as  he  went  through 
the  market-place  ;  caused  the  planks  of  his  galley  to  be  cut  away, 
that  so  he  might  lie  the  softer,  his  bed  not  being  placed  on  the 
boards,  but  hanging  upon  girths.  His  shield,  again,  which  was 
richly  gilded,  had  not  the  usual  ensigns  of  the  Athenians,  but  a 
Cupid,  holding  a  thunderbolt  in  his  hand,  was  painted  upon  it. 
The  sight  of  all  this  made  the  people  of  good  repute  in  the  city 
feel  disgust  and  abhorrence,  and  apprehension  also,  at  his  free  liv- 
ing, and  his  contempt  of  law,  as  things  monstrous  in  themselves, 
and  indicating  designs  of  usurpation.  Aristophanes  has  well  ex- 
pressed the  people's  feeling  towards  him  — 

They  love,  and  hate,  and  cannot  do  without  him. 
And  still  more  strongly,  under  a  figurative  expression, — 

Best  rear  no  lion  in  your  state,  't  is  true ; 
But  treat  him  like  a  lion  if  you  do. 

The  truth  is,  his  liberalities,  his  public  shows,  and  other  munificence 
to  the  people,  which  were  such  as  nothing  could  exceed,  the  glory 
of  his  ancestors,  the  force  of  his  eloquence,  .the  grace  of  his  person, 
his  strength  of  body,  joined  with  his  great  courage  and  knowledge 
in  military  affairs,  prevailed  upon  the  Athenians  to  endure  patiently 
his  excesses,  to  indulge  many  things  to  him,  and,  according  to  their 
habit,  to  give  the  softest  names  to  his  faults,  attributing  them  to 
youth  and  good  nature. 

IV.    Tendency  toward  Oligarchy 

Party  feeling  now  ran  high.  The  oligarchs,  who  in  the  early  part 
of  the  war  had  not  played  a  very  conspicuous  part,  preferring  to  let 
the  extreme  and  the  moderate  democrats  fight  it  out,  now  became 
a  factor  to  be  reckoned  with  ;  and  the  people  were  finally  persuaded 
that  this  form  of  government  alone  could  save  the  state. 


430  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

According  to  Thucydides,  Pisander  was  responsible  for  propos- 
ing the  change  of  government,  but  the  orator  Antiphon  became 
the  scapegoat.  The  following  decree  shows  what  punishment  was 
meted  out  to  those  guilty  of  treason. 

Thucydides,  VIII,  54 

The  people  were  at  first  highly  irritated  at  the  mention  of  an 
oligarchy,  but  upon  understanding  clearly  from  Pisander  that  this 
was  the  only  resource  left,'  they  took  counsel  of  their  fears,  and 
promised  themselves  some  day  to  change  the  government  again, 
and  gave  way.  They  accordingly  voted  that  Pisander  should  sail 
with  ten  others  and  make  the  best  arrangement  that  they  could 
with  Tissaphernes  and  Alcibiades.  At  the.  same  time  the  people, 
upon  a  false  accusation  of  Pisander,  dismissed  Phrynichus  from 
his  post  together  with  his  colleague  Scironides,  sending  Diomedon 
and  Leon  to  replace  them  in  the  command  of  the  fleet.  The  ac- 
cusation was  that  Phrynichus  had  betrayed  lasus  and  Amorges ; 
and  Pisander  brought  it  because  he  thought  him  a  man  unfit  for  the 
business  now  in  hand  with  Alcibiades.  Pisander  also  went  the  round 
of  all  the  clubs  already  existing  in  the  city  for  help  in  law-suits  and 
elections,  and  urged  them  to  draw  together  and  to  unite  their  efforts 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  democracy ;  and  after  taking  all  other 
measures  required  by  the  circumstances,  so  that  no  time  might  be 
lost,  set  off  with  his  ten  companions  on  his  voyage  to  Tissaphernes. 

1.  REMOVAL  OF  OPPONENTS 
Thucydides,  VIII,  66 

Fear,  and  the  sight  of  the  numbers  of  the  conspirators,  closed 
the  mouths  of  the  rest ;  or  if  any  ventured  to  rise  in  opposition, 
he  was  presently  put  to  death  in  some  convenient  way,  and  there 
was  neither  search  for  the  murderers  nor  justice  to  be  had  against 
them  if  suspected  ;  but  the  people  remained  motionless,  being  so 
thoroughly  cowed  that  men  thought  themselves  lucky  to  escape 
violence,  even  when  they  held  their  tongues.  An  exaggerated  be- 
lief in  the  numbers  of  the  conspirators  also  demoralised  the  people, 
rendered  helpless  by  the  magnitude  of  the  city,  and  by  their  want 
of  intelligence  with  each  other,  and  being  without  means  of  finding 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN   DISASTER  431 

out  what  those  numbers  really  were.  F"or  the  same  reason  it  was 
impossible  for  any  one  to  open  his  grief  to  a  neighbour  and  to  con- 
cert measures  to  defend  himself,  as  he  would  have  had  to  speak 
either  to  one  whom  he  did  not  know,  or  whom  he  knew  but  did 
not  trust.  Indeed  all  the  popular  party  approached  each  other  with 
suspicion,  each  thinking  his  neighbour  concerned  in  what  was 
going  on,  the  conspirators  having  in  their  ranks  persons  whom 
no  one  could  ever  have  believed  capable  of  joining  an  oligarchy ; 
and  these  it  was  who  made  the  many  so  suspicious,  and  so  helped 
to  procure  impunity  for  the  few,  by  confirming  the  commons  in 
their  mistrust  of  one  another. 

2.  PISANDER  AND  ANTIPIION 
Thutydidcs,  VIII,  68 

The  man  who  moved  this  resolution  was  Pisander,  w'ho  was 
throughout  the  chief  ostensible  agent  in  putting  down  the  democ- 
racy. But  he  who  concerted  the  whole  affair,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  the  catastrophe,  and  who  had  given  the  greatest  thought 
to  the  matter,  was  Antiphon,  one  of  the  best  men  of  his  day  in 
Athens  ;  who,  with  a  head  to  contrive  measures  and  a  tongue  to 
recommend  them,  did  not  willingly  come  forward  in  the  assembly 
or  upon  any  public  scene,  being  ill-looked  upon  by  the  multitude 
owing  to  his  reputation  for  talent ;  and  who  yet  was  the  one  man 
best  able  to  aid  in  the  courts,  or  before  the  assembly,  the  suitors 
who  required  his  opinion.  Indeed,  when  he  was  afterwards  him- 
self tried  for  his  life  on  the  charge  of  having  been  concerned  in 
setting  up  this  very  government,  when  the  Four  Hundred  were 
overthrown  and  hardly  dealt  with  by  the  commons,  he  made  what 
would  seem  to  be  the  best  defence  of  any  known  up  to  my  time. 
Phrynichus  also  went  beyond  all  others  in  his  zeal  for  the  oligarchy. 
Afraid  of  Alcibiades,  and  assured  that  he  was  no  stranger  to  his 
intrigues  with  Astyochus  at  Samos,  he  held  that  no  oligarchy  was 
ever  likely  to  restore  him,  and  once  embarked  in  the  enterprise, 
proved,  where  danger  was  to  be  faced,  by  far  the  staunchest  of 
them  all.  Theramenes,  son  of  Hagnon,  was  also  one  of  the  fore- 
most of  the  subverters  of  the  democracy  ■ —  a  man  as  able  in  coun- 
sel as  in  debate.    Conducted  by  so  many  and  by  such  sagacious 


432  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

heads,  the  enterprise,  great  as  it  was,  not  unnaturally  went  for- 
ward ;  although  it  was  no  light  matter  to  deprive  the  Athenian 
people  of  its  freedom,  almost  a  hundred  years  after  the  deposition 
of  the  tyrants,  when  it  had  been  not  only  not  subject  to  any  during 
the  whole  of  that  period,  but  accustomed  during  more  than  half  of 
it  to  rule  over  subjects  of  its  own. 

Plutarch  (pseudo),   Vitae  Decern  Oratorum 

Decree  against  Antiphgx  i 

'"  Found  guilty  of  treason  —  Archeptolemus  son  of  Hippodamus, 
of  Agryle,  being  present:  Antiphon  son  of  Sophilus,  of  Rhamnus, 
being  present.  The  award  on  these  two  men  was  —  That  they  be 
delivered  to  the  Eleven :  that  their  property  be  confiscated  and  the 
goddess  have  the  tithe  :  that  their  houses  be  razed  and  boundary- 
stones  put  on  the  sites,  with  the  inscription,  '  the  houses  of  Archep- 
tolemus and  Antiphon  the  traitors  '  :  that  the  two  demarchs  [of 
Agryle  and  Rhamnus]  shall  point  out  their  houses.  And  it  shall 
not  be  lawful  to  bury  Archeptolemus  and  Antiphon  at  Athens  or 
in  any  land  of  which  the  Athenians  are  masters.  That  Archeptol- 
emus and  Antiphon  and  their  descendants,  bastard  or  true-born, 
shall  be  infamous  ;  and  if  a  man  adopt  any  one  of  the  race  of 
Archeptolemus  or  Antiphon,  let  the  adopter  be  infamous.  That 
this  decree  be  written  on  a  brazen  column  and  put  in  the  same 
place  where  the  decrees  about  Phrynichus  are  set  up." 

V.    The  Four  Hundred 

The  first  oligarchical  government  was  the  Four  Hundred. 
Thucydides  and  Aristotle  describe  its  origin  and  policy. 

Thucydides^  VIII,  89-go,  97 

While  Alcibiades  weighed  anchor  and  sailed  eastward  straight 
for  Phaselis  and  Caunus,  the  envoys  sent  by  the  Four  Hundred 
to  Samos  arrived  at  Athens.  Upon  their  delivering  the  message 
from  Alcibiades,  telling  them  to  hold  out  and  to  show  a  firm  front 
to  the  enemy,  and  saying  that  he  had  great  hopes  of  reconciling 

1  Jebb,  "Attic  Orators,"  Vol.  I,  p.  13. 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         433 

them  with  the  army  and  of  overcoming  the  Peloponnesians,  the 
majority  of  the  members  of  the  ohgarchy,  who  were  aheady  dis- 
contented and  only  too  much  inchned  to  be  quit  of  the  business 
in  any  safe  way  that  they  could,  were  at  once  greatly  strengthened 
in  their  resolve.  These  now  banded  together  and  strongly  criticised 
the  administration,  their  leaders  being  some  of  the  principal  gen- 
erals and  men  in  office  under  the  oligarchy,  such  as  Theramenes, 
son  of  Hagnon,  Aristocrates,  son  of  Scellius,  and  others ;  who, 
although  among  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  government 
(being  afraid,  as  they  said,  of  the  army  at  Samos,  and  most  espe- 
cially of  Alcibiades,  and  also  lest  the  envoys  whom  they  had  sent 
to  Lacedaemon  might  do  the  state  some  harm  without  the  authority 
of  the  people),  without  insisting  on  objections  to  the  excessive  con- 
centration of  power  in  a  few  hands,  yet  urged  that  the  Five  Thou- 
sand must  be  shown  to  exist  not  merely  in  name  but  in  reality,  and 
the  constitution  placed  upon  a  fairer  basis.  But  this  was  merely 
their  political  cry  ;  most  of  them  being  driven  by  private  ambition 
into  the  line  of  conduct  so  surely  fatal  to  oligarchies  that  arise  out 
of  democracies.  For  all  at  once  pretend  to  be  not  only  equals  but 
each  the  chief  and  master  of  his  fellows  ;  while  under  a  democracy 
a  disappointed  candidate  accepts  his  defeat  more  easily,  because  he 
has  not  the  humiliation  of  being  beaten  by  his  equals.  But  what 
most  clearly  encouraged  the  malcontents  was  the  power  of  Alcibia- 
des at  Samos,  and  their  own  disbelief  in  the  stability  of  the  oli- 
garchy ;  and  it  was  now  a  race  between  them  as  to  which  should 
first  become  the  leader  of  the  commons. 

Meanwhile  the  leaders  and  members  of  the  Four  Hundred  most 
opposed  to  a  democratic  form  of  government  —  Phrynichus  who 
had  had  the  quarrel  with  Alcibiades  during  his  command  at  Samos, 
Aristarchus  the  bitter  and  inveterate  enemy  of  the  commons,  and 
Pisander  and  Antiphon  and  others  of  the  chiefs  who  already  as  soon 
as  they  entered  upon  power,  and  again  when  the  army  at  Samos 
seceded  from  them  and  declared  for  a  democracy,  had  sent  envoys 
from  their  own  body  to  Lacedaemon  and  made  every  effort  for  peace, 
and  had  built  the  wall  in'Eetionia,  —  now  redoubled  their  exertions 
when  their  envoys  returned  from  Samos,  and  they  saw  not  only  the 
people  but  their  own  most  trusted  associates  turning  against  them 


434  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Nevertheless,  upon  receipt  of  the  news,  the  Athenians  manned 
twenty  ships  and  called  immediately  a  first  assembly  in  the  Pnyx, 
where  they  had  been  used  to  meet  formerly,  and  deposed  the  Four 
Hundred  and  voted  to  hand  over  the  government  to  the  Five  Thou- 
sand, of  which  body  all  who  furnished  a  suit  of  armour  were  to  be 
members,  decreeing  also  that  no  one  should  receive  pay  for  the 
discharge  of  any  office,  or  if  he  did  should  be  held  accursed. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXIX 

So  long,  then,  as  successes  in  the  war  were  evenly  balanced, 
they  preserved  the  democracy.  But  after  the  reverse  in  Sicily, 
when  the  Lacedaemonians  became  very  powerful  by  their  alliance 
with  the  king  of  Persia,  they  were  compelled  to  change  the  democ- 
racy and  establish  the  government  of  the  four  hundred,  on  the  pro- 
posal of  Melobius  before  the  decree  and  Pythodorus  moving  .  .  . 
the  masses  being  influenced,  beyond  all  other  considerations,  by 
the  idea  that  the  king  would  gladly  take  part  with  them  in  the 
war  if  they  made  the  government  oligarchical.  Now,  the  decree  of 
Pythodorus  was  as  follows  :  that  the  people  should  choose,  in  con- 
junction with  the  standing  committee  of  ten,  twenty  others  from 
such  as  were  above  forty  years  of  age,  and  that  they,  after  swear- 
ing solemnly  to  pass  such  measures  as  they  might  think  best  for 
the  state,  should  so  legislate  for  its  safety ;  and  that  it  should  be 
lawful  for  anyone  else  who  wished  to  bring  forward  any  bill,  that 
so,  out  of  all,  they  might  choose  what  was  best.  And  Kleitophon 
spoke  to  the  same  effect  as  Pythodorus,  but  moved  further  that 
those  who  were  elected  should  examine  the  long-established  laws 
which  Kleisthenes  passed  when  he  established  the  democracy,  that 
by  listening  to  them  also  they  might  decide  on  what  was  best,  for 
they  argued  that  Kleisthenes'  constitution  was  not  democratic,  but 
on  the  same  lines  as  that  of  Solon.  After  their  election  they  first 
moved  that  it  should  be  compulsory  on  the  presidents  of  the  Coun- 
cil to  put  to  the  vote  all  proposals  about  the  safety  of  the  state  ; 
then  they  did  away  with  indictments  for  proposing  unconstitutional 
measures,  and  abolished  state  prosecutions  and  legal  challenges, 
so  that  any  Athenian  who  wished  might  assist  in  the  deliberations 
about  the  matters  before  them.    They  proposed,  further,  that  if 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         435 

anyone,  on  account  of  these  proceedings,  should  fine  or  summon 
anyone,  or  bring  a  case  into  court,  an  information  should  be  laid 
against  him,  and  he  should  be  brought  before  the  generals,  and 
the  generals  should  hand  him  over  to  the  Eleven  to  be  punished 
with  death.  After  this  they  drew  up  the  constitution  as  follows  : 
that  it  should  not  be  lawful  to  expend  the  incoming  moneys  for 
any  other  purpose  than  the  war,  and  that  all  offices  should  be  held 
without  pay  so  long  as  the  war  might  last,  with  the  exception  of 
the  nine  archons  and  the  presidents  of  the  Council  for  the  time 
being,  but  that  these  should  receive  three  obols  a  day  each.  They 
proposed  further,  to  vest  all  the  rest  of  the  administration  in  such 
of  the  Athenians  as  were  best  able  both  in  person  and  means  to 
perform  the  public  services,  to  the  number  of  not  less  than  five 
thousand,  so  long  as  the  war  might  last ;  that  they  should  have 
the  power  also  of  making  treaties  with  whomever  they  liked  ; 
and  that  the  committee  should  choose  ten  men  from  each  tribe 
over  forty  years  of  age  to  enrol  the  five  thousand,  after  having 
taken  an  oath  on  perfect  sacrifices. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXXI 

.  .  .  but  for  the  immediate  present  its  provisions  were  as  follows  : 
That  the  Council  should  consist  of  four  hundred  as  instituted  by 
their  fathers,  forty  from  each  tribe,  from  such  candidates  as  the 
tribesmen  might  select  above  thirty  years  of  age.  That  they  should 
appoint  the  officers  of  state,  draw  up  the  form  of  oath  to  be  taken, 
and  do  whatever  they  judged  expedient  concerning  the  laws  and 
audits  of  accounts  and  everything  else.  That  they  should  govern 
by  the  established  laws  regarding  matters  of  state,  and  should  not 
have  the  right  of  altering  them  or  passing  different  ones.  For  the 
present  they  should  make  choice  of  the  generals  out  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  five  thousand,  and  the  Council,  after  its  appointment, 
should  hold  a  review  under  arms,  and  should  choose  ten  men  and 
a  secretary  for  them  ;  these  on  their  election  were  to  hold  office 
for  the  coming  year  with  full  powers,  and  as  occasion  might  re- 
quire, concert  measures  in  common  with  the  Council.  That  they 
should  choose  one  commander  of  cavalry  and  ten  chiefs  of  tribes  ; 
but  for  the  future  the  Council  was  to  make  choice  of  them  in 


436  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

conformity  with  the  written  law.  In  respect  of  all  other  offices, 
except  the  Council  and  the  generals,  it  should  not  be  lawful  for 
them  or  anyone  else  to  hold  the  same  office  more  than  once. 
And  for  the  remainder  of  the  time  the  four  hundred  should  be 
distributed  into  the  four  lots,   ... 

So  the  hundred  who  were  chosen  by  the  five  hundred  drew  up 
this  constitution. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXXII-XXXIII 

The  oligarchy  then  was  established  in  this  way  in  the  archon- 
ship  of  Kallias,  about  a  hundred  years  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
tyrants,  its  establishment  being  mainly  due  to  Peisander,  Antiphon, 
and  Theramenes,  men  of  good  antecedents,  and  with  a  character 
for  intelligence  and  prudence.  On  the  introduction  of  this  form 
of  government  the  five  thousand  were  only  nominally  appointed, 
but  the  four  hundred,  in  conjunction  with  the  ten  who  were  in- 
vested with  full  powers,  entering  the  council-chamber,  assumed 
the  management  of  affairs.  Sending  an  embassy  to  the  Lacedae- 
monians, they  proposed  putting  an  end  to  the  war  on  the  terms 
that  each  side  should  retain  what  they  held,  but  withdrew  from 
further  negotiation  when  the  Lacedaemonians  refused  to  listen 
to  any  proposal  which  did  not  include  the  surrender  of  their 
maritime  supremacy. 

The  government  of  the  four  hundred  lasted  about  four  months, 
and  of  this  body  Mnasilochus  was  archon  for  the  space  of  two 
months  during  the  archonship  of  Theopompus,  who  held  office 
the  remaining  two  months.  But  after  the  defeat  in  the  sea-fight 
at  Eretria,  and  the  revolt  of  the  whole  of  Euboea  except  Oreus, 
being  more  incensed  at  this  calamity  than  at  any  that  had  ever 
hitherto  befallen  them  (for  Euboea  was  of  greater  advantage  to 
them  than  Attica),  the  Athenians  put  down  the  four  hundred,  and 
gave  the  management  of  affairs  to  the  five  thousand  under  arms 
(referred  to  above),  after  passing  a  vote  that  anyone  who  received 
pay  should  be  ineligible  for  offices  of  state.  The  overthrow  of  the 
four  hundred  was  mainly  due  to  Aristokrates  and  Theramenes, 
who  did  not  approve  of  their  doings,  for  they  managed  everything 
themselves,  without  ever  referring  to  the  five  thousand.    But  the 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER  437 

administration  seems  to  have  been  good  at  tliis  time,  considering 
that  a  war  was  being  carried  on,  and  that  the  form  of  government 
was  a  mihtary  one. 

PHRYNICIIUS 

Phrynichus,  though  one  of  the  generals,  was  not  in  entire  sym- 
pathy with  the  poHcy  of  this  new  government,  and  his  opposition 
made  him  very  unpopular.  He  was  assassinated,  and  little  was  done 
in  the  way  of  trying  to  discover  or  prosecute  the  culprit.  On  the 
contrary  a  decree  was  passed  under  the  democracy  conferring  high 
honours  on  various  men  who  are  known  to  have  had  a  hand  in  the 
murder.  We  find  Lysias  taking  pains  to  prove  that  a  certain 
Agoratus  is  unfairly  claiming  to  have  been  rewarded  with  citizen- 
ship for  his  share  in  the  deed. 

Thiu-ydides,  VIII,  48,  51 

Unlike  the  rest,  who  thought  them  advantageous  and  trustworthy, 
Phrynichus,  who  was  still  general,  by  no  means  approved  of  the 
proposals.  Alcibiades,  he  rightly  thought,  cared  no  more  for  an 
oligarchy  than  for  a  democracy,  and  only  sought  to  change  the 
institutions  of  his  country  in  order  to  get  himself  recalled  by  his 
associates  ;  while  for  themselves  their  one  object  should  be  to  avoid 
civil  discord.  It  was  not  the  king's  interest,  when  the  Peloponnesians 
were  now  their  equals  at  sea,  and  in  possession  of  some  of  the 
chief  cities  in  his  empire,  to  go  out  of  his  way  to  side  with  the 
Athenians  whom  he  did  not  trust,  when  he  might  make  friends  of 
the  Peloponnesians  who  had  never  injured  him.  And  as  for  the 
allied  states  to  whom  oligarchy  was  now  offered,  because  the  de- 
mocracy was  to  be  put  down  at  Athens,  he  well  knew  that  this 
would  not  make  the  rebels  come  in  any  the  sooner,  or  confirm  the 
loyal  in  their  allegiance  ;  as  the  allies  would  never  prefer  servitude 
with  an  oligarchy  or  democracy  to  freedom  with  the  constitution 
which  they  actually  enjoyed,  to  whichever  type  it  belonged.  Besides, 
the  cities  thought  that  the  so-called  better  classes  would  prove  just 
as  oppressive  as  the  commons,  as  being  those  who  originated,  pro- 
posed, and  for  the  most  part  benefited  from  the  acts  of  the  commons 


438  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

injurious  to  the  confederates.  Indeed,  if  it  depended  on  the  better 
classes,  the  confederates  would  be  put  to  death  without  trial  and 
with  violence  ;  while  the  commons  were  their  refuge  and  the  chas- 
tiser  of  these  men.  This  he  positively  knew  that  the  cities  had 
learned  by  experience,  and  that  such  was  their  opinion.  The  propo- 
sitions of  Alcibiades,  and  the  intrigues  now  in  progress,  could 
therefore  never  meet  with  his  approval.   .  .  . 

Meanwhile  Phrynichus  having  had  timely  notice  that  he  was 
playing  him  false,  and  that  a  letter  on  the  subject  was  on  the  point 
of  arriving  from  Alcibiades,  himself  anticipated  the  news,  and  told 
the  army  that  the  enemy,  seeing  that  Samos  was  unfortified  and 
the  fleet  not  all  stationed  within  the  harbour,  meant  to  attack  the 
camp  ;  that. he  could  be  certain  of  this  intelligence,  and  that  they 
must  fortify  Samos  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  generally  look  to 
their  defences.  It  will  be  remembered  that  he  was  general,  and 
had  himself  authority  to  carry  out  these  measures.  Accordingly 
they  addressed  themselves  to  the  work  of  fortification,  and  Samos 
was  thus  fortified  sooner  than  it  would  otherwise  have  been.  Not 
long  afterwards  came  the  letter  from  Alcibiades,  saying  that  the 
army  was  betrayed  by  Phrynichus,  and  the  enemy  about  to  attack 
it,  Alcibiades,  however,  gained  no  credit,  it  being  thought  that  he 
was  in  the  secret  of  the  enemy's  designs,  and  had  tried  to  fasten 
them  upon  Phrynichus,  and  to  make  out  that  he  was  their  accom- 
plice, out  of  hatred  ;  and  consequently  far  from  hurting  him  he 
rather  bore  witness  to  what  he  had  said  by  this  intelligence. 

Thncydidcs,  VIII,  go,  92 

Alarmed  at  the  state  of  things  at  Athens  as  at  Samos,  they  now 
sent  off  in  haste  Antiphon  and  Phrynichus  and  ten  others  with 
injunctions  to  make  peace  with  Lacedaemon  upon  any  terms,  no 
matter  what,  that  should  be  at  all  tolerable.  Meanwhile  they  pushed 
on  more  actively  than  ever  with  the  wall  in  Eetionia.  Now  the 
meaning  of  this  wall,  according  to  Theramenes  and  his  supporters, 
was  not  so  much  to  keep  out  the  army  of  Samos  in  case  of  its 
trying  to  force  its  way  into  Piraeus  as  to  be  able  to  let  in,  at  pleas- 
ure, the  fleet  and  army  of  the  enemy.  For  Eetionia  is  a  mole  of 
Piraeus,  close  alongside  of  the  entrance  of  the  harbour,  and  was 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         439 

now  fortified  in  connexion  with  the  wall  already  existing  on  the 
land  side,  so  that  a  few  men  placed  in  it  might  be  able  to  command 
the  entrance  ;  the  old  wall  on  the  land  side  and  the  new  one  now 
being  built  within  on  the  side  of  the  sea,  both  ending  in  one  of  the 
two  towers  standing  at  the  narrow  mouth  of  the  harbour.  They 
also  walled  off  the  largest  porch  in  Piraeus  which  was  in  immediate 
connexion  with  this  wall,  and  kept  it  in  their  own  hands,  compelling 
all  to  unload  there  the  corn  that  came  into  the  harbour,  and  what 
they  had  in  stock,  and  to  take  it  out  from  thence  when  they 
sold  it.  .  .  . 

Meanwhile  the  murmurs  against  them  were  at  first  confined  to 
a  few  persons  and  went  on  in  secret,  until  Phrynichus,  after  his 
return  from  the  embassy  to  Lacedaemon,  was  laid  wait  for  and 
stabbed  in  full  market  by  one  of  the  Pcnpoli,  falling  down  dead 
before  he  had  gone  far  from  the  council  chamber.  The  assassin 
escaped  ;  but  his  accomplice,  an  Argive,  was  taken  and  put  to  the 
torture  by  the  Four  Hundred,  without  their  being  able  to  extract 
from  him  the  name  of  his  employer,  or  anything  further  than  that 
he  knew  of  many  men  who  used  to  assemble  at  the  house  of  the 
commander  of  the  Pcripoli  and  at  other  houses.  Here  the  matter 
was  allowed  to  drop. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  7  4 

Assassins  of  Phrynichus,  r.c.  410-409 

In  the  archonship  of  Glaucippus. 
Lobon  from  Cedi  was  secretary. 

Voted  by  the  senate  and  the  people.  Hippothontis  was  the 
pr}tanizing  tribe,  Lobon  secretary,  Philistides  was  president,  Glau- 
cippus was  archon.  Erasinides  moved  :  —  That  Thrasybulus  be 
praised  as  being  a  benefactor  to  the  Athenians,  and  zealous  to  do 
what  good  he  can,  and  that  in  return  for  the  service  he  has  ren- 
dered the  senate  and  people  of  Athens  he  be  crowned  with  a 
golden  crown.  And  the  crown  shall  be  worth  a  thousand  drachmas, 
and  the  Hellenotamiae  shall  give  the  money.  And  that  it  be  an- 
nounced at  the  festival  of  Dionysus  in  the  city  why  the  people 
have  crowned  him. 


440  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Diodes  moved  the  following  amendment :  —  That  Thrasybulus 
be  registered  as  an  Athenian  of  whatever  tribe  and  deme  and 
phratry  he  wishes,  and  that  all  the  other  matters  voted  by  the 
people  be  valid  for  Thrasybulus  and  that  there  be  procured  for 
him  any  other  benefit  he  wishes  on  account  of  his  good  deeds 
toward  the  Athenians,  and  that  the  decisions  be  written  on  a  stone 
stele.  That  men  be  chosen  at  once  to  determine  the  share  which 
falls  to  Thrasybulus.  And  the  other  benefactors  of  Athens  .  .  .  and 
Agoratus  and  Comon  .  .  .  and  Simon  and  Philinus  ...  be  inscribed 
as  such  on  a  stone  stele  on  the  Acropolis  by  the  secretary  of  the 
senate.  And  that  they  have  the  right  of  property-holding  as  Athe- 
nians and  a  plot  of  land  and  houses,  and  a  house  at  Athens.  The 
senate  in  office  and  the  presiding  officers  are  to  see  to  it  that  they 
are  not  wronged.  The  contractors  in  the  senate  are  to  let  out  the 
contract  for  the  stele  and  the  Hellenotamiae  to  pay  the  money. 
And  if  it  seems  best  for  them  to  have  further  honors  the  senate 
is  to  consider  it  and  refer  it  to  the  people. 

Eudicus  moved  the  further  amendment :  That  as  to  those  who 
took  bribes  about  the  decree  which  was  voted  for  Apollodorus,  the 
senate  take  counsel  in  the  first  session  in  the  senate-house,  and 
voting  charges  against  them  chastise  those  guilty,  and  take  them 
to  court,  however  seems  best  to  them.  Those  judges  who  are  now 
here  are  to  give  an  account  of  what  was  the  verdict  and  whatever 
other  matters  any  of  them  knows  about  the  accused.  And  if  any 
private  citizen  wishes  to,  he  also  may  give  evidence. 

Lysias,  XIII  {Agaijist  Agoratus),  70-71 

The  Murder  of  Phrynichus 

He  will  say,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  and  thereby  he  will  try  to 
deceive  you,  that  under  the  Four  Hundred  he  killed  Phrynichus, 
and  he  says  that  in  return  for  this  deed  the  people  made  him  an 
Athenian  citizen.  But  this  is  false,  gentlemen  ;  for  neither  did  he 
kill  Phrynichus,  nor  did  the  people  grant  him  citizenship. 

Now  Thrasybulus  of  Calydon  and  Apollodorus  of  Megara  both 
had  designs  on  Phrynichus,  and  when  they  met  him  on  the  street, 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         441 

Thrasybulus  fell  upon  Phrynichus  and  struck  him  down,  but 
Apollodorus  did  not  touch  him.  At  this  a  cry  was  raised  and  they 
ran  away.  But  Agoratus  here  was  neither  called  in  nor  was  he 
present  nor  does  he  know  anything  about  the  affair.  The  decree 
itself  will  make  it  clear  to  you  that  I  am  speaking  the  truth. 

VI.    The  Fall  of  Athens 

1.  ARGINUS^  AND   THE  CONDEMNATION  OF  THE  GENERALS 

In  the  confused  events  of  this  time  the  two  which  stand  out 
vividly  are  the  battles  of  Arginusse  and  vEgospotami.  The  people 
of  Athens  seem  to  have  lost  their  heads  completely  after  the  first 
battle,  and  wasted  much  time  and  effort  in  a  formal  trial  of  their 
generals  on  the  grounds  that  they  failed  to  pick  up  the  ship- 
wrecked. Unity  and  patriotism,  not  party  bickerings,  were  most 
needed  for  the  desperate  struggle  at  this  time. 

Xenophon,  ffellenica,  I,  vi,  26-38 

Callicratidas,  hearing  that  the  relief  squadron  had  already  reached 
Samos,  left  fifty  ships,  under  command  of  Eteonicus,  in  the  harbour 
of  Mitylene,  and  setting  sail  with  the  other  one  hundred  and  twenty, 
hove  to  for  the  evening  meal  off  Cape  Malea  in  Lesbos,  opposite 
Mitylene.  It  so  happened  that  the  Athenians  on  this  day  were  sup- 
ping on  the  islands  of  Arginusse,  which  lie  opposite  Lesbos.  In 
the  night  the  Spartan  not  only  saw  their  watch-fires,  but  received 
positive  information  that  "  these  were  the  Athenians  ;  "  and  about 
midnight  he  got  under  weigh,  intending  to  fall  upon  them  suddenly. 
But  a  violent  downpour  of  rain  with  thunder  and  lightning  prevented 
him  putting  out  to  sea.  By  daybreak  it  had  cleared,  and  he  sailed 
towards  Arginusae.  On  their  side,  the  Athenian  squadron  stood 
out  to  meet  him,  with  their  left  wing  facing  towards  the  open 
sea,  and  drawn  up  in  the  following  order:  —  Aristocrates,  in  com- 
mand of  the  left  wing,  with  fifteen  ships,  led  the  van  ;  next  came 
Diomedon  with  fifteen  others,  and  immediately  in  rear  of  Aristoc- 
rates and  Diomedon  respectively,  as  their  supports,  came  Pericles 
and  Erasinides.     Parallel  with  Diomedon  were  the  Samians,  with 


442  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

their  ten  ships  drawn  up  in  single  line,  under  the  command  of  a 
Samian  officer  named  Hippeus.  Next  to  these  came  the  ten  vessels 
of  the  taxiarchs,  also  in  single  line,  and  supporting  them,  the  three 
ships  of  the  navarchs,  with  any  other  allied  vessels  in  the  squad- 
ron. The  right  wing  was  entrusted  to  Protomachus  with  fifteen 
ships,  and  next  to  him  (on  the  extreme  right)  was  Thrasyllus  with 
another  division  of  fifteen,  Protomachus  was  supported  by  Lysias 
with  an  equal  number  of  ships,  and  Thrasyllus  by  Aristogenes, 
The  object  of  this  formation  was  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  ma- 
noeuvring so  as  to  break  their  line  by  striking  them  amidships, 
since  they  were  inferior  in  sailing  power. 

The  Lacedaemonians,  on  the  contrary,  trusting  to  their  superior 
seamanship,  were  formed  opposite  with  their  ships  all  in  single 
line,  with  the  special  object  of  manoeuvring  so  as  either  to  break 
the  enemy's  line  or  to  wheel  round  them.  Callicratidas  commanded 
the  right  wing  in  person.  Before  the  battle  the  officer  who  acted 
as  his  pilot,  the  Megarian  Hermon,  suggested  that  it  might  be 
well  to  withdraw  the  fleet  as  the  Athenian  ships  were  far  more 
numerous.  But  Callicratidas  replied  that  Sparta  would  be  no  worse 
off  even  if  he  personally  should  perish,  but  to  flee  would  be  dis- 
graceful. And  now  the  fleets  approached,  and  for  a  long  space  the 
battle  endured.  At  first  the  vessels  were  engaged  in  crowded 
masses,  and  later  on  in  scattered  groups.  At  length  Callicratidas, 
as  his  vessel  dashed  her  beak  into  her  antagonist,  was  hurled  off 
into  the  sea  and  disappeared.  At  the  same  instant  Protomachus, 
with  his  division  on  the  right,  had  defeated  the  enemy's  left,  and 
then  the  flight  of  the  Peloponnesians  began  towards  Chios,  though 
a  very  considerable  body  of  them  made  for  Phocaea,  whilst  the  Athe- 
nians sailed  back  again  to  Arginusae.  The  losses  on  the  side  of  the 
Athenians  were  twenty-five  ships,  crews  and  all,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  few  who  contrived  to  reach  dry  land.  On  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  side,  nine  out  of  the  ten  Lacedaemonian  ships,  and  more 
than  sixty  belonging  to  the  rest  of  the  allied  squadron,  were  lost. 

After  consultation  the  Athenian  generals  agreed  that  two  cap- 
tains of  triremes,  Theramenes  and  Thrasybulus,  accompanied  by 
some  of  the  taxiarchs,  should  take  forty-seven  ships  and  sail  to  the 
assistance  of  the  disabled  fleet  and  of  the  men  on  board,  while  the 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER  443 

rest  of  the  squadron  proceeded  to  attack  the  enemy's  blockading 
squadron  under  Eteonicus  at  Mitylene.  In  spite  of  their  desire  to 
carry  out  this  resolution,  the  wind  and  a  violent  storm  which  arose 
prevented  them.  So  they  set  up  a  trophy,  and  took  up  their  quarters 
for  the  night.  As  to  Eteonicus,  the  details  of  the  engagement  were 
faithfully  reported  to  him  by  the  express  despatch-boat  in  attendance. 
On  receipt  of  the  news,  however,  he  sent  the  despatch-boat  out  again 
the  way  she  came,  with  an  injunction  to  those  on  board  of  her  to  sail 
off  quickly  without  exchanging  a  word  with  any  one.  Then  on  a  sud- 
den they  were  to  return  garlanded  with  wreaths  of  victory  and  shout- 
ing, "  Callicratidas  has  won  a  great  sea  fight,  and  the  whole  Athenian 
squadron  is  destroyed."  This  they  did,  and  Eteonicus,  on  his  side, 
as  soon  as  the  despatch-boat  came  sailing  in,  proceeded  to  offer 
sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  in  honour  of  the  good  news.  Meanwhile 
he  gave  orders  that  the  troops  were  to  take  their  evening  meal,  and 
that  the  masters  of  the  trading  ships  were  silently  to  stow  away 
their  goods  on  board  the  merchant  ships  and  make  sail  as  fast  as 
the  favourable  breeze  could  speed  them  to  Chios.  The  ships  of 
war  were  to  follow  suit  with  what  speed  they  might.  This  done, 
he  set  fire  to  his  camp,  and  led  off  the  land  forces  to  Methymna. 
Conon,  finding  the  enemy  had  made  off,  and  the  wind  had  grown 
comparatively  mild,  got  his  ships  afloat,  and  so  fell  in  with  the 
Athenian  squadron,  which  had. by  this  time  set  out  from  Arginusae, 
To  these  he  explained  the  proceedings  of  Eteonicus.  The  squadron 
put  into  Mitylene,  and  from  Mitylene  stood  across  to  Chios,  and 
thence,  without  effecting  anything  further,  sailed  back  to  Samos. 

Xenophon,  Hellenka^  I,  vii,  i-io 

All  the  above-named  generals,  with  the  exception  of  Conon, 
were  presently  deposed  by  the  home  authorities.  In  addition  to 
Conon  two  new  generals  were  chosen,  Adeimantus  and  Philocles. 
Of  those  concerned  in  the  late  victory  two  never  returned  to  Athens  : 
these  were  Protomachus  and  Aristogenes.  The  other  six  sailed 
home.  Their  names  were  Pericles,  Diomedon,  Lysias,  Aristocrates, 
Thrasyllus,  and  Erasinides.  On  their  arrival  Archidemus,  the  leader 
of  the  democracy  at  that  date,  who  had  charge  of  the  two  obol  fund, 
inflicted  a  fine  on  Erasinides,  and  accused  him  before  the  Dicastery 


444  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

of  having  appropriated  money  derived  from  the  Hellespont,  which 
belonged  to  the  people.  He  brought  a  further  charge  against  him 
of  misconduct  while  acting  as  general,  and  the  court  sentenced 
him  to  imprisonment. 

These  proceedings  in  the  law  court  were  followed  by  the  state- 
ment of  the  generals  before  the  senate  touching  the  late  victory 
and  the  magnitude  of  the  storm.  Timocrates  then  proposed  that 
the  other  five  generals  should  be  put  in  custody  and  handed  over 
to  the  public  assembly.  Whereupon  the  senate  committed  them 
all  to  prison.  Then  came  the  meeting  of  the  public  assembly,  in 
which  others,  and  more  particularly  Theramenes,  formally  accused 
the  generals.  He  insisted  that  they  ought  to  show  cause  why  they 
had  not  picked  up  the  shipwrecked  crews.  To  prove  that  there 
had  been  no  attempt  on  their  parts  to  attach  blame  to  others,  he 
might  point,  as  conclusive  testimony,  to  the  despatch  sent  by 
the  generals  themselves  to  the  senate  and  the  people,  in  which 
they  attributed  the  whole  disaster  to  the  storm,  and  nothing  else. 
After  this  the  generals  each  in  turn  made  a  defence,  which  was 
necessarily  limited  to  a  few  words,  since  no  right  of  addressing  the 
assembly  at  length  was  allowed  by  law.  Their  explanation  of  the 
occurrences  was  that,  in  order  to  be  free  to  sail  against  the  enemy 
themselves,  they  had  devolved  the  duty  of  picking  up  the  ship- 
wrecked crews  upon  certain  competent  captains  of  men-of-war, 
who  had  themselves  been  generals  in  their  time,  to  wit  Theramenes 
and  Thrasybulus,  and  others  of  like  stamp.  If  blame  could  attach 
to  any  one  at  all  with  regard  to  the  duty  in  question,  those  to  whom 
their  orders  had  been  given  were  the  sole  persons  they  could  hold 
responsible.  "  But,"  they  went  on  to  say,  "  we  will  not,  because 
these  very  persons  have  denounced  us,  invent  a  lie,  and  say  that 
Theramenes  and  Thrasybulus  are  to  blame,  when  the  truth  of  the 
matter  is  that  the  magnitude  of  the  storm  alone  prevented  the 
burial  of  the  dead  and  the  rescue  of  the  living."  In  proof  of  their 
contention,  they  produced  the  pilots  and  numerous  other  witnesses 
from  among  those  present  at  the  engagement.  By  these  arguments 
they  were  in  a  fair  way  to  persuade  the  people  of  their  innocence. 
Indeed  many  private  citizens  rose  wishing  to  become  bail  for  the 
accused,  but  it  was  resolved  to  defer  decision  till  another  meeting 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         445 

of  the  assembly.  It  was  indeed  already  so  late  that  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  see  to  count  the  show  of  hands.  It  was  further 
resolved  that  the  senate  meanwhile  should  prepare  a  measure,  to 
be  introduced  at  the  next  assembly,  as  to  the  mode  in  which  the 
accused  should  take  their  trial. 

Then  came  the  festival  of  the  Apaturia,  with  its  family  gather- 
ings of  fathers  and  kinsfolk.  Accordingly  the  party  of  Theramenes 
procured  numbers  of  people  clad  in  black  apparel,  and  close-shaven, 
who  were  to  go  in  and  present  themselves  before  the  public  assem- 
bly in  the  middle  of  the  festival,  as  relatives,  presumably,  of  the 
men  who  had  perished  ;  and  they  persuaded  Callixenus  to  accuse 
the  generals  in  the  senate.  The  next  step  was  to  convoke  the  as- 
sembly, when  the  senate  laid  before  it  the  proposal  just  passed  by 
their  body,  at  the  instance  of  Callixenus,  which  ran  as  follows  : 
"  Seeing  that  both  the  parties  to  this  case,  to  wit,  the  prosecutors 
of  the  generals  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  accused  themselves  in 
their  defence  on  the  other,  have  been  heard  in  the  late  meeting  of 
the  assembly ;  we  propose  that  the  people  of  Athens  now  record 
their  votes,  one  and  all,  by  their  tribes ;  that  a  couple  of  voting 
urns  be  placed  for  the  convenience  of  each  several  tribe  ;  and  the 
public  crier  in  the  hearing  of  each  several  tribe  proclaim  the  mode 
of  voting  as  follows :  '  Let  every  one  who  finds  the  generals  guilty 
of  not  rescuing  the  heroes  of  the  late  sea  fight  deposit  his  vote  in 
urn  No.  i.  Let  him  who  is  of  the  contrary  opinion  deposit  his 
vote  in  urn  No.  2,  Further,  in  the  event  of  the  aforesaid  generals 
being  found  guilty,  let  death  be  the  penalty.  Let  the  guilty  persons 
be  delivered  over  to  the  eleven.  Let  their  property  be  confiscated 
to  the  State,  with  the  exception  of  one  tithe,  which  falls  to  the 
goddess.'  " 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  I,  vii,  34-35 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  speech  Euryptolemus  proposed,  as  an 
amendment,  that  the  prisoners  should,  in  accordance  with  the  de- 
cree of  Cannonus,  be  tried  each  separately,  as  against  the  proposal 
of  the  senate  to  try  them  all  by  a  single  vote. 

At  the  show  of  hands  the  tellers  gave  the  majority  in  favour  of 
Euryptolemus's  amendment,  but  upon  the  application  of  Menecles, 


446  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

who  took  formal  exception  to  this  decision,  the  show  of  hands  was 
gone  through  again,  and  now  the  verdict  was  in  favour  of  the  reso- 
lution of  the  senate.  At  a  later  date  the  balloting  was  made,  and 
by  the  votes  recorded  the  eight  generals  were  condemned,  and  the 
six  who  were  in  Athens  were  put  to  death. 

Not  long  after,  repentance  seized  the  Athenians,  and  they 
passed  a  decree  authorizing  the  public  prosecution  of  those  who 
had  deceived  the  people,  and  the  appointment  of  proper  securities 
for  their  persons  until  the  trial  was  over.  Callixenus  was  one  of 
these  committed  for  trial.  There  were,  besides  Callixenus,  four 
others  against  whom  true  bills  were  declared,  and  they  were  all 
five  imprisoned  by  their  sureties.  But  all  subsequently  effected 
their  escape  before  the  trial,  at  the  time  of  the  sedition  in  which 
Cleophon  was  killed.  Callixenus  eventually  came  back  when  the 
party  in  Piraeus  returned  to  the  city,  at  the  date  of  the  amnesty, 
but  only  to  die  of  hunger,  an  object  of  universal  detestation. 

2.  /EGOSPOTAMI  AND  ITS  RESULTS 

The  final  defeat  of  Athens,  the  dramatic  presentation  of  the 
effect  of  the  disaster  upon  the  state,  and  the  terms  agreed  to  with 
Sparta  all  follow.    Athens  was  forced  to  submit  or  starve. 

The  walls  and  fortifications  and  the  fleet — Athens's  dearest 
possessions  —  had  to  be  sacrificed  and  the  headship  of  Sparta 
acknowledged.  Sparta  undoubtedly  regarded  it  as  magnanimous 
treatment,  for  she  might  have  destroyed  the  city  utterly.  However, 
in  that  case  she  would  have  lost  more  than  she  gained,  for  she 
had  many  friends  among  the  oligarchs  in  Athens,  and  before  long 
they  came  into  power  again. 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  II,  i,  16-21 

The  Athenians  meanwhile,  using  Samos  as  their  base  of  opera- 
tions, were  employed  in  devastating  the  king's  territory,  or  in 
swooping  down  upon  Chios  and  Ephesus,  and  in  general  were  pre- 
paring for  a  naval  battle,  having  but  lately  chosen  three  new  generals 
in  addition  to  those  already  in  office,  whose  names  were  Menander, 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         447 

Tydeus,  and  Cephisodotus.  Now  Lysander,  leaving  Rhodes,  and 
coasting  along  Ionia,  made  his  way  to  the  Hellespont,  having  an 
eye  to  the  passage  of  vessels  through  the  Straits,  and,  in  a  more 
hostile  sense,  on  the  cities  which  had  revolted  from  Sparta.  The 
Athenians  also  set  sail  from  Chios,  but  stood  out  to  the  open  sea, 
since  the  seaboard  of  Asia  was  hostile  to  them. 

Lysander  was  again  on  the  move  ;  leaving  Abydos,  he  passed  up 
channel  to  Lampsacus,  which  town  was  allied  with  Athens ;  the 
men  of  Abydos  and  the  rest  of  the  troops  advancing  by  land,  under 
the  command  of  the  Lacedaemonian  Thorax.  They  then  attacked 
and  took  by  storm  the  town,  which  was  wealthy,  and  with  its  stores 
of  wine  and  wheat  and  other  commodities  was  pillaged  by  the 
soldiery.  All  freeborn  persons,  however,  were  without  exception 
released  by  Lysander.  And  now  the  Athenian  fleet,  following  close 
on  his  heels,  came  to  moorings  at  Elseus,  in  the  Chersonesus,  one 
hundred  and  eighty  sail  in  all.  It  was  not  until  they  had  reached 
this  place,  and  were  getting  their  early  meal,  that  the  news  of  what 
had  happened  at  Lampsacus  reached  them.  Then  they  instantly 
set  sail  again  to  Sestos,  and,  having  halted  long  enough  merely 
to  take  in  stores,  sailed  on  further  to  /Egospotami,  a  point  facing 
Lampsacus,  where  the  Hellespont  is  not  quite  two  miles  broad. 
Here  they  took  their  evening  meal. 

The  night  following,  or  rather  early  next  morning,  with  the  first 
streak  of  dawn,  Lysander  gave  the  signal  for  the  men  to  take  their 
breakfasts  and  get  on  board  their  vessels  ;  and  so,  having  got  all 
ready  for  a  naval  engagement,  with  his  ports  closed  and  movable 
bulwarks  attached,  he  issued  the  order  that  no  one  was  to  stir  from 
his  post  or  put  out  to  sea.  As  the  sun  rose  the  Athenians  drew 
up  their  vessels  facing  the  harbour,  in  line  of  battle  ready  for 
action  ;  but  Lysander  declining  to  come  out  to  meet  them,  as  the 
day  advanced  they  retired  again  to  ^gospotami.  Then  Lysander 
ordered  the  swiftest  of  his  ships  to  follow  the  Athenians,  and  as 
soon  as  the  crews  had  disembarked,  to  watch  what  they  did,  sail 
back,  and  report  to  him.  Until  these  look-outs  returned  he  would 
permit  no  disembarkation  from  his  ships.  This  performance  he 
repeated  for  four  successive  days,  and  each  day  the  Athenians  put 
out  to  sea  and  challenged  an  engagement. 


448  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

But  now  Alcibiades,  from  one  of  his  fortresses,  could  espy  the 
position  of  his  fellow-countrymen,  moored  on  an  open  beach  beyond 
reach  of  any  city,  and  forced  to  send  for  supplies  to  Sestos,  which 
was  nearly  two  miles  distant,  while  their  enemies  were  safely 
lodged  in  a  harbour,  with  a  city  adjoining,  and  everything  within 
reach.  The  situation  did  not  please  him,  and  he  advised  them 
to  shift  their  anchorage  to  Sestos,  where  they  would  have  the 
advantage  of  a  harbour  and  a  city.  "  Once  there,"  he  concluded, 
"you  can  engage  the  enemy  whenever  it  suits  you."  But  the 
generals,  and  more  particularly  Tydeus  and  Menander,  bade  him 
go  about  his  business.  "We  are  generals  now  —  not  you,"  they 
said  ;  and  so  he  went  away.  And  now  for  five  days  in  succession 
the  Athenians  had  sailed  out  to  offer  battle,  and  for  the  fifth  time 
retired,  followed  by  the  same  swift  sailers  of  the  enemy.  But  this 
time  Llysander's  orders  to  the  vessels  so  sent  in  pursuit  were,  that 
as  soon  as  they  saw  the  enemy's  crew  fairly  disembarked  and  dis- 
persed along  the  shores  of  the  Chersonesus  (a  practice,  it  should 
be  mentioned,  which  had  grown  upon  them  from  day  to  day  owing 
to  the  distance  at  which  eatables  had  to  be  purchased,  and  out 
of  sheer  contempt,  no  doubt,  of  Lysander,  who  refused  to  accept 
battle),  they  were  to  begin  their  return  voyage,  and  when  in  mid- 
channel  to  hoist  a  shield.  The  orders  were  punctually  carried  out,  and 
Lysander  at  once  signalled  to  his  whole  squadron  to  put  across  with 
all  speed,  while  Thorax,  with  the  land  forces,  was  to  march  parallel 
with  the  fleet  along  the  coast.  Aware  of  the  enemy's  fleet,  which 
he  could  see  bearing  down  upon  him,  Conon  had  only  time  to 
signal  to  the  crews  to  join  their  ships  and  rally  to  the  rescue  with 
all  their  might.  But  the  men  were  scattered  far  and  wide,  and  some 
of  the  vessels  had  only  two  out  of  their  three  banks  of  rowers, 
some  only  a  single  one,  while  others  again  were  completely  empty. 
Conon's  own  ship,  with  seven  others  in  attendance  on  him  and  the 
Paralus,  put  out  to  sea,  a  little  cluster  of  nine  vessels,  with  their 
full  complement  of  men  ;  but  every  one  of  the  remaining  one 
hundred  and  seventy-one  vessels  were  captured  by  Lysander  on 
the  beach.  As  to  the  men  themselves,  the  large  majority  of  them 
were  easily  made  prisoners  on  shore,  a  few  only  escaping  to  the 
small  fortresses  of  the  neierhbourhood.    Meanwhile  Conon  and  his 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         449 

nine  vessels  made  good  their  escape.  For  himself,  knowing  that 
the  fortune  of  Athens  was  ruined,  he  put  into  Abarnis,  the  prom- 
ontory of  Lampsacus,  and  there  picked  up  the  great  sails  of 
Lysander's  ships,  and  then  with  eight  ships  set  sail  himself  to 
seek  refuge  with  Evagoras  in  Cyprus,  while  the  Parahis  started 
for  Athens  with  tidings  of  what  had  taken  place. 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  II,  ii,  3-4 

It  was  night  when  the  Paralus  reached  Athens  with  her  evil 
tidings,  on  receipt  of  w'hich  a  bitter  wail  of  woe  broke  forth.  From 
Piraeus,  following  the  line  of  the  long  walls  up  to  the  heart  of  the 
city,  it  swept  and  swelled,  as  each  man  to  his  neighbour  passed  on 
the  news.  On  that  night  no  man  slept.  There  was  mourning  and 
sorrow  for  those  that  were  lost,  but  the  lamentation  for  the  dead 
was  merged  in  even  deeper  sorrow  for  themselves,  as  they  pictured 
the  evils  they  were  about  to  suffer,  the  like  of  which  they  had 
themselves  inflicted  upon  the  men  of  Melos,  who  were  colonists 
of  the  Lacedaemonians,  when  they  mastered  them  by  siege.  Or  on 
the  men  of  Histiaea ;  on  Scione  and  Torone ;  on  the  /Eginetans, 
and  many  another  Hellene  city.  On  the  following  day  the  public 
assembly  met,  and,  after  debate,  it  was  resolved  to  block  up  all  the 
harbours  save  one,  to  put  the  walls  in  a  state  of  defence,  to  post 
guards  at  various  points,  and  to  make  all  other  necessary  preparation 
for  a  siege.    Such  were  the  concerns  of  the  men  of  Athens, 

3.  TERMS   OF   THE  TREATY 

Xenophon,  Hellejiica,  II,  ii,  19-23 

Theramenes  and  his  companions  presently  reached  Sellasis,  and 
being  here  questioned  as  to  the  reason  of  their  visit,  replied  that 
they  had  full  powers  to  treat  of  peace.  After  which  the  ephors 
ordered  them  to  be  summoned  to  their  presence.  On  their  arrival 
a  general  assembly  was  convened,  in  which  the  Corinthians  and 
Thebans  more  particularly,  though  their  views  were  shared  by 
many  other  Hellenes  also,  urged  the  meeting  not  to  come  to  terms 
with  the  Athenians,  but  to  destroy  them.  The  Lacedaemonians 
replied  that  they  would  never  reduce  to  slavery  a  city  which  was 
itself  an  integral  portion  of  Hellas,  and  had  performed  a  great  and 


450  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

noble  service  to  Hellas  in  the  most  perilous  of  emergencies.  On 
the  contrary,  they  were  willing  to  offer  peace  on  the  terms  now 
specified  —  namely,  "  That  the  long  walls  and  the  fortifications  of 
Piraeus  should  be  destroyed  ;  that  the  Athenian  fleet,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  twelve  vessels,  should  be  surrendered  ;  that  the  exiles 
should  be  restored  ;  and  lastly,  that  the  Athenians  should  acknowl- 
edge the  headship  of  Sparta  in  peace  and  war,  leaving  to  her  the 
choice  of  friends  and  foes,  and  following  her  lead  by  land  and  sea." 
Such  were  the  terms  which  Theramenes  and  tne  rest  who  acted 
with  him  were  able  to  report  on  their  return  to  Athens.  As  they 
entered  the  city,  a  vast  crowd  met  them,  trembling  lest  their  mis- 
sion should  have  proved  fruitless.  For  indeed  delay  was  no  longer 
possible,  so  long  already  was  the  list  of  victims  daily  perishing 
from  starvation.  On  the  day  following,  the  ambassadors  delivered 
their  report,  stating  the  terms  upon  which  the  Lacedaemonians 
were  willing  to  make  peace.  Theramenes  acted  as  spokesman,  in- 
sisting that  they  ought  to  obey  the  Lacedaemonians  and  pull  down 
the  walls,  A  small  minority  raised  their  voice  in  opposition,  but 
the  majority  were  strongly  in  favour  of  the  proposition,  and  the 
resolution  was  passed  to  accept  the  peace.  After  that,  Lysander 
sailed  into  the  Piraeus,  and  the  exiles  were  readmitted.  And  so 
they  fell  to  levelling  the  fortifications  and  walls  with  much  enthu- 
siasm, to  the  accompaniment  of  female  flute-players,  deeming  that 
day  the  beginning  of  liberty  to  Greece. 

VIL    The  Thirty 

The  rule  of  the  Thirty,  moderate  at  first,  soon  became  synony- 
mous with  a  reign  of  terror.  Not  only  was  the  government  in  the 
hands  of  a  few,  but  no  one  had  the  slightest  guarantee  of  security 
of  life  or  property.  Murder,  proscription,  confiscation,  putting  a 
person  out  of  the  way  on  any  pretext  —  all  these  things  were  rife 
at  this  time.  Soon  even  the  Thirty  did  not  hesitate  to  seek  victims 
among  their  own  number,  and  a  violent  quarrel  broke  out  between 
Critias  and  Theramenes,  both  members  of  the  Thirty,  who  headed 
the  extreme  and  the  moderate  factions  respectively. 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         451 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXXIV-XXXVIlP 

...  for  in  the  following  year,  in  the  archonship  of  Alexias,  be- 
fell the  disastrous  sea-fight  at  yEgospotami,  the  result  of  which  was 
that  Lysander  made  himself  master  of  the  government,  and  estab- 
lished the  Thirty  in  the  following  manner.  When  they  had  made 
peace  on  the  condition  that  they  should  live  under  the  form  of 
government  which  they  had  inherited  from  their  fathers,  on  the 
one  hand  the  popular  side  was  trying  to  preserve  the  democracy ; 
while  on  the  othey,  of  the  upper  classes  such  as  belonged  to  the 
political  clubs,  and  the  exiles  who  had  returned  after  the  peace, 
were  desirous  of  an  oligarchy,  and  those  who  were  not  members 
of  any  club,  but  otherwise  had  the  character  of  being  inferior  to 
none  of  their  fellow-citizens,  were  seeking  for  the  form  of  govern- 
ment inherited  from  their  fathers.  Amongst  this  number  were 
Archinus,  Anytus,  Kleitophon,  Phormisius,  and  several  others, 
and  at  the  head  of  them  Theramenes  was  conspicuous.  When 
Lysander  attached  himself  to  the  oligarchs,  the  people  were  terror- 
stricken  and  compelled  to  vote  for  the  oligarchy.  Drakontides  of 
Aphidnae  proposed  the  vote. 

So  the 'Thirty  were  established  in  this  way  in  the  archonship  of 
Pythodoms.  Being  now  masters  of  the  state,  they  neglected  all 
the  other  provisions  regarding  the  government,  and  appointed  only 
the  five  hundred  members  of  the  Council,  and  the  other  magis- 
trates from  selected  candidates  out  of  the  thousand  ;  and  taking 
to  themselves  ten  governors  of  Piraeus,  and  eleven  guards  of  the 
prison,  and  three  hundred  attendants  furnished  with  scourges,  they 
kept  the  government  in  their  own  hands.  At  first  they  behaved 
with  moderation  to  their  fellow-citizens,  and  affected  to  administer 
the  government  as  inherited  from  their  fathers.  They  annulled  in 
the  Areopagus  the  laws  of  Ephialtes  and  Archestratus  regarding  the . 
Areopagitae,  and  such  of  Solon's  laws  as  were  of  doubtful  interpre- 
tation, and  put  down  the  supreme  authority  vested  in  the  jurors,  as  if 
they  were  going  to  restore  the  constitution,  and  remove  all  doubts 
in  its  interpretation.  For  example,  in  the  matter  of  a  man's  giving 
his  own  property  to  whom  he  likes,  they  gave  him  full  authority 
once  for  all ;  and  they  removed  the  existing  limitations  in  cases  of 

1  This  translation  has  been  modified  to  agree  with  Kenyon's  in  some  points. 


452  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

mental  aberration,  old  age,  or  undue  female  influence,  so  that  no 
door  might  be  left  open  to  common  informers.  In  all  other  cases 
they  proceeded  in  like  manner  and  with  the  same  object.  At  first 
then  such  was  their  line  of  action,  and  they  made  away  with  the 
common  informers  and  such  as  associated  themselves  with  the 
people  to  do  its  pleasure  in  opposition  to  its  true  interests,  and  were 
mischievous  and  bad.  And  men  rejoiced  at  these  doings,  thinking 
that  they  were  actuated  by  the  best  motives.  But  when  they  had  got 
a  firmer  grip  of  power,  not  a  single  individual  did  they  spare,  but 
killed  alike  such  as  were  distinguished  for  their  wealth,  birth,  or 
rank,  getting  rid  in  this  underhand  way  of  those  whom  they  were 
afraid  of,  and  whose  property,  at  the  same  time,  they  wished  to 
plunder.  By  such  means  they  had  succeeded  within  a  short  period 
in  making  away  with  not  less  than  fifteen  hundred  persons. 

When  the  state  was  drifting  in  this  way,  Theramenes,  indignant 
at  their  proceedings,  exhorted  them  to  put  a  stop  to  such  outrages 
and  give  a  share  of  the  administration  to  the  best  men.  They  at 
first  resisted,  but  when  reports  spread  among  the  people,  who  were 
for  the  most  part  well  disposed  to  Theramenes,  then,  fearing  that 
he  might  constitute  himself  the  champion  of  the  people  and  put 
an  end  to  their  power,  they  drew  up  a  list  of  three  thousand  citi- 
zens, declaring  that  they  would  give  them  a  share  in  the  govern- 
ment. Theramenes  again  found  fault  with  this  arrangement,  on 
the  following  grounds  :  first,  that  although  they  professed  a  desire 
to  give  a  share  of  their  power  to  respectable  citizens,  they  proposed 
to  do  so  with  three  thousand  only,  just  as  if  worth  were  limited  to 
that  number  ;  secondly,  that  they  were  acting  in  a  way  which  was 
in  the  highest  degree  inconsistent,  by  establishing  a  government 
which  was  a  government  of  force  and  yet  inferior  in  power  to  the 
governed.  But  they  made  light  of  these  objections,  and  for  a  long 
time  held  back  the  list  of  three  thousand,  keeping  their  names  a 
secret ;  and  when  they  did  think  good  to  publish  them,  they  can- 
celled some  on  the  list  and  substituted  others  who  had  not  been 
originally  included. 

When  winter  had  now  set  in,  and  Thrasybulus  and  the  exiles 
had  seized  Phyle,  the  Thirty,  having  fared  badly  with  the  army 
which  they  had  led  out  against  them,  determined  to  strip  everybody 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER  453 

else  of  their  arms  and  destroy  Theramenes  after  the  following 
manner :  They  brought  forward  two  measures  in  the  Council  and 
ordered  it  to  pass  them  ;  one  was  to  invest  the  Thirty  with  full 
powers  to  put  to  death  any  citizen  whose  name  was  not  on  the  list 
of  the  three  thousand  ;  the  other  to  deprive  of  their  political  rights 
all  who  had  taken  part  in  the  destruction  of  the  fort  in  Eetiohia, 
or  had  in  any  way  acted  in  opposition  to  the  four  hundred,  or  the 
founders  of  the  former  oligarchy.  Now  the  fact  was  that  The- 
ramenes had  had  a  share  in  both,  with  the  consequence  that  when 
these  proposals  had  been  passed  he  was  put  in  the  position  of  an 
outlaw,  and  the  Thirty  had  the  power  of  putting  him  to  death.  So, 
after  making  away  with  Theramenes,  they  stripped  every  one  of 
his  arms  except  the  three  thousand,  and  in  every  way  indulged 
freely  in  cruelty  and  evil-doing.  Sending  ambassadors  to  Lace- 
daemon,  they  brought  accusations  against  Theramenes,  and  asked 
for  help,  in  compliance  with  which  the  Lacedaemonians  despatched 
Kallibius  as  governor  (Harmost),  with  about  seven  hundred  men, 
who  on  their  arrival  garrisoned  the  Acropolis. 

1.  THERAMENES  AND  CRITIAS 
Xenophon,  Hellenica,  II,  iii,  15-16 

These  were  early  days ;  as  yet  Critias  was  of  one  mind  with 
Theramenes,  and  the  two  were  friends.  But  the  time  came  when, 
in  proportion  as  Critias  was  ready  to  rush  headlong  into  wholesale 
carnage,  like  one  who  thirsted  for  the  blood  of  the  democracy, 
which  had  banished  him,  Theramenes  balked  and  thwarted  him. 
It  was  barely  reasonable,  he  argued,  to  put  people  to  death  who 
had  never  done  a  wrong  to  respectable  people  in  their  lives,  simply 
because  they  had  enjoyed  influence  and  honour  under  the  democ- 
racy. "Why,  you  and  I,  Critias,"  he  would  add,  "have  said  and 
done  many  things  ere  now  for  the  sake  of  popularity."  To  which 
the  other  (for  the  terms  of  friendly  intimacy  still  subsisted)  would 
retort,  "  There  is  no  choice  left  to  us,  since  we  intend  to  take  the 
lion's  share,  but  to  get  rid  of  those  who  are  best  able  to  hinder  us. 
If  you  imagine,  because  we  are  thirty  instead  of  one,  our  govern- 
ment requires  one  whit  the  less  careful  guarding  than  an  actual 
tyranny,  you  must  be  very  innocent." 


454  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  II,  iii,  46-56 

"  Then  he  threw  in  my  teeth  the  nickname  "  Buskin,'  as  descrip- 
tive of  an  endeavour  on  my  part  to  fit  both  parties.  But  what  of 
the  man  who  pleases  neither  ?  What  in  heaven's  name  are  we  to 
call  him  ?  Yes  !  you  —  Critias  !  Under  the  democracy  you  were 
looked  upon  as  the  most  arrant  hater  of  the  people,  and  under  the 
aristocracy  you  have  proved  yourself  the  bitterest  foe  of  everything 
respectable.  Yes  !  Critias,  I  am,  and  ever  have  been,  a  foe  of 
those  who  think  that  a  democracy  cannot  reach  perfection  until 
slaves  and  those  who,  from  poverty,  would  sell  the  city  for  a 
drachma,  can  get  their  drachma  a  day.  But  not  less  am  I,  and 
ever  have  been,  a  pronounced  opponent  of  those  who  do  not  think 
there  can  possibly  exist  a  perfect  oligarchy  until  the  State  is  subjected 
to  the  despotism  of  a  few.  On  the  contrary,  my  own  ambition  has 
been  to  combine  with  those  who  are  rich  enough  to  possess  a  horse 
and  shield,  and  to  use  them  for  the  benefit  of  the  State.  That 
was  my  ideal  in  old  days,  and  I  hold  to  it  without  a  shadow  of 
turning  still.  If  you  can  mention  when  and  where,  in  conjunction 
with  despots  or  demagogues,  I  have  set  to  my  hand  to  deprive 
honest  gentlefolk  of  their  citizenship,  pray  speak.  If  you  can  con- 
vict me  of  such  crimes  at  present,  or  can  prove  my  perpetration 
of  them  in  the  past,  I  admit  that  I  deserve  to  die,  and  by  the 
worst  of  deaths." 

With  these  words  he  ceased,  and  the  loud  murmur  of  applause 
which  followed  marked  the  favourable  impression  produced  upon  the 
senate.  It  was  plain  to  Critias,  that  if  he  allowed  his  adversary's 
fate  to  be  decided  by  formal  voting,  Theramenes  would  escape,  and 
life  to  himself  would  become  intolerable.  Accordingly  he  stepped 
forward  and  spoke  a  word  or  two  in  the  ears  of  the  Thirty.  This 
done,  he  went  out  and  gave  an  order  to  the  attendants  with  the 
daggers  to  stand  close  to  the  bar  in  full  view  of  the  senators.  Again 
he  entered  and  addressed  the  senate  thus  :  "I  hold  it  to  be  the 
duty  of  a  good  president,  when  he  sees  the  friends  about  him  being 
made  the  dupes  of  some  delusion,  to  intervene.  That  at  any  rate 
is  what  I  propose  to  do.  Indeed  our  friends  here  standing  by  the 
bar  say  that  if  we  propose  to  acquit  a  man  so  openly  bent  upon  the 
ruin  of  the  oligarchy,  they  do  not  mean  to  let  us  do  so.    Now  there 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICHTAN  DISASTER         455 

is  a  clause  in  the  new  code  forbidding  any  of  the  Three  Thousand 
to  be  put  to  death  without  your  vote  ;  but  the  Thirty  have  power 
of  Hfe  and  death  over  all  outside  that  list.  Accordingly,"  he  pro- 
ceeded, "  I  herewith  strike  this  man,  Theramenes,  off  the  list ;  and 
this  with  the  concurrence  of  my  colleagues.  And  now,"  he  con- 
tinued, "we  condemn  him  to  death." 

Hearing  these  words  Theramenes  sprang  upon  the  altar  of  Hestia, 
exclaiming:  "And  I,  sirs,  supplicate  you  for  the  barest  forms  of 
law  and  justice.  Let  it  not  be  in  the  power  of  Critias  to  strike  off 
either  me,  or  any  one  of  you  whom  he  will.  But  in  my  case,  in  what 
may  be  your  case,  if  we  are  tried,  let  our  trial  be  in  accordance  with 
the  law  they  have  made  concerning  those  on  the  list.  I  know,"  he 
added,  "  but  too  well,  that  this  altar  will  not  protect  me  ;  but  I  will 
make  it  plain  that  these  men  are  as  impious  towards  the  gods  as 
they  are  nefarious  towards  men.  Yet  I  do  marvel,  good  sirs  and- 
honest  gentlemen,  for  so  you  are,  that  you  will  not  help  yourselves, 
and  that  too  when  you  must  see  that  the  name  of  every  one  of  you 
is  as  easily  erased  as  mine," 

But  when  he  had  got  so  far,  the  voice  of  the  herald  was  heard 
giving  the  order  to  the  Eleven  to  seize  Theramenes.  They  at  that 
instant  entered  with  their  satellites,  —  at  their  head  Satyrus,  the 
boldest  and  most  shameless  of  the  body,  —  and  Critias  exclaimed, 
addressing  the  Eleven,  '"  We  deliver  over  to  you  Theramenes  yon- 
der, who  has  been  condemned  according  to  the  law.  Do  you  take 
him  and  lead  him  away  to  the  proper  place,  and  do  there  with  him 
what  remains  to  do."  As  Critias  uttered  the  words,  Satyrus  laid 
hold  upon  Theramenes  to  drag  him  from  the  altar,  and  the  attend- 
ants lent  their  aid.  But  he,  as  was  natural,  called  upon  gods  and 
men  to  witness  what  was  happening.  The  senators  the  while  kept 
silence,  seeing  the  companions  of  Satyrus  at  the  bar,  and  the  whole 
front  of  the  senate  house  crowded  with  the  foreign  guards,  nor  did 
they  need  to  be  told  that  there  were  daggers  in  reserve  among 
those  present. 

And  so  Theramenes  was  dragged  through  the  Agora,  in  vehe- 
ment and  loud  tones  proclaiming  the  wrongs  that  he  was  suffering. 
One  word,  which  is  said  to  have  fallen  from  his  lips,  I  cite.  It  is 
this  :  Satyrus,  bade  him  "  Be  silent,  or  he  would  rue  the  day;"  to 


456  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

which  he  made  answer,  "And  if  I  be  silent,  shall  I  not  rue  it?" 
Also,  when  they  brought  him  the  hemlock,  and  the  time  was  come 
to  drink  the  fatal  draught,  they  tell  how  he  playfully  jerked  out  the 
dregs  from  the  bottom  of  the  cup,  like  one  who  plays  "  Cottabus," 
with  the  words,  "This  to  the  lovely  Critias."  These  are  but  "apoph- 
thegms "  too  trivial,  it  may  be  thought,  to  find  a  place  in  history. 
Yet  I  must  deem  it  an  admirable  trait  in  this  man's  character,  if  at 
such  a  moment,  when  death  confronted  him,  neither  his  wits  for- 
sook him,  nor  could  the  childlike  sportiveness  vanish  from  his  soul. 

2.  FALL  AND  AMNESTY 

The  democratic  party,  known  as  "  the  exiles,"  were  in  the  mean- 
time at  Phyle  awaiting  developments.  When  the  time  came  they 
seized  Munychia  and  the  Piraeus,  and  overthrew  the  Thirty. 

A  reconciliation  then  took  place.  There  was  a  general  amnesty, 
past  sins  were  to  be  forgotten,  and  the  government  was  to  be 
reorganized  on  the  old  democratic  lines, 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens^  XXXVIII 

After  this,  when  the  exiles  from  Phyle  had  seized  Munychia 
and  had  been  victorious  in  an  engagement  over  the  force  that  had 
come  to  its  help  with  the  Thirty,  the  citizens,  retiring  after  the 
attempt,  and  assembling  on  the  morrow  in  the  market-place,  put 
down  the  Thirty,  and  appointed  ten  of  the  citizens,  with  full  powers, 
to  bring  the  war  to  an  end.  Now  they,  after  taking  over  the  gov- 
ernment, did  not  enter  into  the  negotiations  for  which  they  had 
been  appointed,  but  sent  an  embassy  to  Lacedaemon,  asking  for 
help  and  borrowing  money.  When  those  who  had  a  voice  in  the 
government  were  displeased  at'  this,  fearing  that  they  might  be 
deposed  from  power,  and  wishing  to  strike  terror  into  the  rest  — 
as,  indeed,  they  did  —  they  seized  and  put  to  death  Demaretus,  a 
man  second  to  none  of  the  citizens,  and,  with  the  help  of  Kallibius 
and  his  Peloponnesians,  and  besides  them  some  of  the  knights,  got 
a  firm  hold  of  the  government.  Now  some  of  the  knights  were 
more  anxious  than  any  of  their  fellow-citizens  that  the  exiles  at 
Phyle  should  not  return.    When,  however,  the  forces  which  held 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER  457 

the  Piraeus  and  Munychia,  to  which  all  the  popular  party  had 
withdrawn,  were  getting  the  better  in  the  war,  then  they  put  down 
the  ten  who  were  first  appointed  and  chose  ten  others  of  the 
highest  character,  during  whose  government  was  accomplished 
both  the  reconciliation  and  the  return  of  the  popular  party  with 
their  zealous  co-operation. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XXXIX 

Now,  the  reconciliation  was  effected  in  the  archonship  of  Euklei- 
des  on  the  following  terms  :  Such  Athenians  as  had  remained  in 
the  city  and  wished  to  leave  it  might  live  at  Eleusis  without  for- 
feiting their  rights,  and  with  full  authority  and  powers  in  all  their 
affairs  and  the  enjoyment  of  their  property.  The  temple  should 
be  common  to  both,  and  under  the  charge  of  the  heralds  and 
Eumolpidae  in  conformity  with  the  ancient  customs-.  It  should  not 
be  lawful  for  such  as  were  at  Eleusis  to  go  to  the  city,  nor  for 
those  in  the  city  to  go  to  Eleusis,  except  for  the  mysteries.  They 
should  contribute  from  their  incomes  to  the  alliance  just  like  the 
other  Athenians.  And  if  any  of  these  who  went  away  took  a 
house  at  Eleusis,  they  should  get  the  assent  of  the  owner ;  and  if 
they  failed  to  agree  about  terms,  they  should  choose  three  appraisers 
on  either  side,  and  he  should  take  the  price  which  they  fixed.  Any 
Eleusinians  they  liked  might  live  with  them.  The  registry  for  those 
who  wanted  to  live  away  should  be  as  follows  :  for  such  as  were 
at  home  from  the  day  they  took  the  oath,  a  space  of  seven  days 
and  twenty  days  for  the  departure,  and  for  those  who  were  away 
after  they  had  come  back  again,  the  same  conditions.  It  should 
not  be  lawful  for  anyone  living  at  Eleusis  to  hold  any  office  in  the 
city  before  he  was  registered  again  as  living  in  the  city.  Trials  for 
murder  should  be  according  to  the  ancient  customs  ;  if  anyone 
killed  another  with  his  own  hand  he  should  pay  the  penalty,  after 
making  his  offering.  The  act  of  amnesty  should  be  binding  on 
everyone,  except  as  against  the  Thirty  and  the  Ten  ^  and  the  Eleven  ^ 
and  the  late  magistrates  of  Piraeus,  and  that  not  even  these  should 

1  This  means  those  mentioned  on  p.  456  ;  not  the  board  spoken  of  at  the  top  of  this 
page,  against  whom  there  was  no  ground  of  complaint. 

2  Special  police,  or  public  executioners,  to  whom  condemned  men  were  handed  over. 
See  pp.  451,  455. 


458  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

be  excluded  if  they  submitted  their  accounts.  The  magistrates  of 
Piraeus  should  render  accounts  of  matters  done  in  Piraeus,  and 
the  city  magistrates  in  matters  concerned  with  rateable  valuations. 
When  affairs  were  arranged  in  this  way,  such  as  wished  should  live 
away.  Lastly,  each  side  should  repay  separately  the  money  they 
had  borrowed  for  the  war. 

For  the  decree  concerning  the  return  of  the  exiles  from  Phyle, 
see  Hicks  and  Hill,  80  and  note.  It  is  too  fragmentary  to  be  of 
help  here. 

Vni.    Conditions  under  the  P'our  Hundred  and 
THE  Thirty 

The  following  passages  illustrate  some  of  the  methods  which 
prevailed  under  the  Thirty. 

The  orator  Lysias  had  good  reason  to  hate  them.  As  rich  metics 
of  Piraeus  he  and  his  family  were  regarded  as  fair  objects  for 
plunder.  Lysias  himself  escaped  with  his  life,  but  his  brother, 
Polemarchus,  was  most  inhumanly  treated  and  then  put  to  death. 

The  oration  "Against  Nicomachus "  illustrates  some  of  the 
illegal  methods  employed  during  the  Thirty's  regime  —  holding 
oflfice  long  after  the  term  had  expired,  failing  to  hand  in  accounts, 
tampering  with  the  laws,  and  unearthing  laws  that  never  existed. 

An  inscription  concerning  the  revision  of  the  laws  is  still  extant 
in  part.  Provision  is  made  for  revising  some  of  the  laws  of  Draco. 
The  remaining  part  has  to  do  with  murder  in  different  degrees. ^ 

1.  UNCONSTITUTIONAL  MEASURES 

Lysias,  XXX  {Against  Nicomachus),  2-5 

But  when  he  was  made  copyist  of  the  laws,  who  does  not  know 
how  he  outraged  the  city  t  Whereas  he  was  ordered  to  copy  out 
Solon's  laws  within  four  months,  in  place  of  Solon  he  set  himself 
up  as  lawgiver,  and  in  place  of  four  months  he  held  office  for  six 

1  See  Hicks  and  Hill,  7S  and  note. 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN   DISASTER  459 

years,  and  drawing  daily  pay  he  recorded  some  laws  and  erased 
others.  We  came  to  such  a  pass  that  we  had  the  laws  dealt  out  to 
us  from  his  hand,  and  the  parties  to  suits  in  the  courts  cited  contra- 
dictory laws,  both  saying  that  they  had  got  them  from  Nicomachus, 
and  though  the  archons  inflicted  summary  fines  on  him,  and  brought 
his  case  before  the  court,  he  would  not  hand  over  the  laws.  But 
the  city  was  involved  in  the  greatest  troubles  before  he  gave  up  his 
office  and  submitted  accounts  of  his  conduct.  And,  gentlemen  of 
the  jury,  since  he  paid  no  penalty  for  his  misdeeds,  what  kind  of 
an  office  has  he  set  up  now,  as  well  ?  In  the  first  place  he  was 
secretary  four  years,  when  he  ought  to  have  retired  after  thirty 
days;  he  then  gave  himself  full  control  of  all  laws,  though  it  had 
been  stated  definitely  from  what  documents  he  was  to  copy,  and 
he  alone  of  all  the  magistrates  has  submitted  no  accounts,  though 
he  had  the  control  of  so  much.  Now  the  other  officials  who  have 
charge  of  these  matters  hand  in  their  reports  every  month,  but  you, 
Nicomachus,  did  not  deign  to  enter  your  account  in  four  years, 
but  you  think  that  you  are  the  only  man  in  the  city  who  can  hold 
office  a  long  time  and  never  render  accounts,  or  obey  the  decrees, 
or  consider  the  laws  ;  some  of  which  you  write  down  and  others 
you  leave  out,  and  you  have  reached  such  a  pitch  of  insolence  that 
you  think  the  property  of  the  State  yours,  while  all  the  time  you 
are  the  property  of  the  State  yourself. 

Lysias,  XXX  {Against  Nicomachus),  10-14 

After  the  loss  of  the  ships,  when  the  change  of  government  was 
secretly  under  way,  Cleophon  abused  the  senate,  —  saying  that  it 
had  gone  into  the  conspiracy  and  was  not  acting  for  the  good  of 
the  state.  Satyrus  of  Cephisia,  a  senator,  persuaded  the  senate 
to  put  him  in  chains  and  hand  him  over  to  stand  trial.  But  those 
who  wished  to  compass  his  destruction  and  feared  that  the  court 
might  not  condemn  him  to  death,  persuaded  Nicomachus  to 
produce  a  law  to  the  effect  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  senate 
to  be  party  to  the  judgment.  And  this  utterly  corrupt  villain  so 
openly  joined  the  revolutionary  plot  that  on  the  day  on  which  the 
trial  took  place  he  produced  the  law.  Against  Cleophon,  indeed, 
there  might  be  other  grounds  for  accusation,  but  every  one  agrees 


46o  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

that  those  who  were  destroying  the  democracy  wished  him  above 
all  the  citizens  to  be  put  out  of  the  way,  and  that  Satyrus  and 
Chremon,  members  of  the  Thirty,  were  bringing  accusation  against 
Cleophon,  not  because  they  were  aroused  in  your  interest,  but  in 
order  that  they  might  injure  you  by  having  him  put  to  death.  This 
they  accomplished  by  virtue  of  the  law  which  Nicomachus  pro- 
duced. It  is,  however,  fitting,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  that  even 
those  of  you  who  thought  Cleophon  a  bad  citizen,  should  remem- 
ber that  whereas  some  of  those  who  were  killed  by  the  oligarchy 
were  bad  citizens,  yet  their  death  aroused  your  wrath  against  the 
Thirty  because  they  were  slain  not  because  of  their  misdeeds  but  for 
purely  party  reasons.  If,  therefore,  he  shall  defend  himself  on  these 
grounds,  remember  that  he  produced  the  law  at  a  critical  moment, 
when  the  government  was  being  overthrown,  and  that  as  a  favor 
to  those  who  destroyed  the  democracy,  he  made  party  to  the  judges 
the  then  existing  senate  in  which  Satyrus  and  Chremon  were  es- 
pecially influential,  while  Strombichides  and  Calliades  and  many 
other  good  citizens  were  put  to  death. 

Lysias,  XXX  {Against  Nicottiachus),  27-30 

And  instead  of  a  slave  he  has  become  a  citizen,  instead  of  poor 
rich,  instead  of  an  under-clerk  a  lawgiver.  Anyone  might  well  criti- 
cize you  on  the  grounds  that  our  ancestors  chose  as  lawgivers 
Solon  and  Themistocles  and  Pericles,  thinking  that  the  laws  would 
be  exactly  in  harmony  with  the  character  of  those  who  made  them, 
but  you  choose  Tisamenus,  son  of  Mechanion,  and  Nicomachus 
and  other  under-clerks  like  these  fellows,  and  you  think  the  magis- 
tracies are  degraded  by  such  men,  but  you  trust  them  none  the 
less.  And  this  is  the  worst  of  all  :  —  although  it  is  illegal  for  a 
man  to  be  even  an  under-clerk  twice  during  the  same  magistracy, 
you  allow  the  same  men  to  have  control  over  most  important 
matters  for  a  long  time.  And  to  cap  the  climax  you  appointed 
to  publish  our  ancestral  laws  Nicomachus,  who  has  no  ancestral 
rights  in  the  city  on  his  father's  side  ;  and  so  the  man  who  ought 
to  have  been  put  on  public  trial  notoriously  helped  to  put  down 
the  democracy.  Now,  however,  you  should  repent  of  what  you 
have  done,  and  put  an  end  to  your  sufferings  at  the  hands  of 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         461 

these  men,  neither  should  you  as  private  individuals  reprehend 
wrong-doers  and  then  acquit  them  when  it  is  possible  for  you  to 
inflict  punishment. 

The  oration  "Against  Agoratus  "  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  the 
unjust  and  illegal  way  in  which  trials  were  conducted,  as  well  as 
a  summary  of  some  of  the  misdeeds  of  the  Thirty. 

Lysias,  XIII  {Agai/isf  Agoratus)  36-38 

If  they  had  been  tried  in  the  regular  courts  they  would  easily 
have  been  saved, —  for  you  all  had  realized  in  what  an  evil  plight  the 
city  was,  when  you  were  not  able  to  render  any  assistance.  How- 
ever they  actually  brought  them  before  the  senate  of  the  year  of 
the  Thirty.  The  trial  was  conducted  in  the  manner  which  you 
know  so  well.  The  Thirty  sat  on  the  benches  where  the  presiding 
officers  now  sit,  and  two  tables  were  placed  in  front  of  them,  and 
the  vote  had  to  be  placed  not  in  a  ballot-box  but  openly  on  these 
tables,  the  adverse  vote  on  the  farther  table  ....  Under  the 
conditions  how  could  any  one  of  them  expect  acquittal }  In  a  word, 
all  those  who  were  brought  for  trial  to  the  court  under  the  Thirty 
were  condemned  to  death,  and  not  one  was  spared  except  Agoratus 
here ;  they  let  him  off  on  the  score  of  his  being  a  benefactor  to 
the  state.  To  have  you  know  how  many  fell  victims  to  his  activity, 
I  should  like  to  read  over  the  list  of  their  names  to  vou. 

Lysias,  XIII  {Against  Agoratus)  46-48 

Deeds  of  the  Thirty 

Further,  you  know  how  the  walls  were  razed,  the  ships  handed 
over  to  the  enemy,  the  dockyards  pulled  down,  the  Lacedaemonians 
held  your  acropolis,  and  the  whole  strength  of  the  city  was  para- 
lysed, so  that  it  was  no  stronger  than  the  weakest  of  cities. 

In  addition,  you  lost  your  private  property,  and  finally,  all  of  you 
together  were  driven  out  of  your  country  by  the  Thirty.  When  those 
patriots  saw  this,  judges,  they  refused  to  allow  peace  to  be  made  ;  and 
these  men  who  wished  to  help  the  city  were  killed  by  you,  Agoratus, 
on  the  charge  that  they  were  plotting  treason  ;  and  indeed  you  are 
responsible  for  all  the  misfortunes  which  have  befallen  the  state. 


462  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

2.  TREATMENT  OF  THE  METICS 
The  most  horrible  instance  of  brutahty  and  greed  is  narrated  by 
Lysias  in  the  oration  "Against  Eratosthenes."  This  is  the  only 
case  where  the  orator's  speech  is  on  his  own  behalf.  Eratos- 
thenes had  been  a  member  of  the  Thirty,  and  as  such  was  liable 
to  impeachment,  since  they  were  expressly  excluded  by  the  terms 
of  the  amnesty. 

Lysias,  XII  (^Against  Eratosthenes),  4-23 

My  father  Cephalus  was  persuaded  by  Pericles  to  come  to  this 
country,  he  lived  here  thirty  years,  and  we  were  never  prosecutors 
or  defendants  in  any  suit,  but  we  lived  under  the  democracy  in  such 
a  way  that  we  never  brought  a  charge  against  others  and  never 
were  accused.  But  when  the  Thirty  got  into  power, — base  men 
and  sycophants  who  alleged  that  it  was  necessary  to  clear  the  city 
of  wrong-doers  and  to  incline  the  rest  of  the  citizens  to  virtue  and 
justice,  —  though  they  used  arguments  of  this  kind,  they  acted 
in  quite  a  different  spirit,  as  I  shall  endeavor  to  remind  you,  speak- 
ing first  of  my  own  case  and  then  of  yours.  Theognis  and  Piso 
spoke  in  the  meetings  of  the  Thirty  about  the  metics,  saying  that 
some  of  them  were  disaffected  towards  the  government,  and  that 
therefore  they  had  the  best  possible  excuse  for  pretending  to  pun- 
ish them  but  really  for  getting  money  ;  at  any  rate  that  the  city 
was  poor  and  the  government  in  need  of  funds.  With  small  diffi- 
culty they  persuaded  their  hearers,  who  thought  it  a  trivial  matter 
to  put  men  to  death,  but  highly  important  to  get  money.  They 
decided,  therefore,  to  arrest  ten,  two  of  them  poor  men,  in  order 
that  they  might  have  the  defense  that  their  action  was  taken  not 
for  money,  but  for  the  good  of  the  state,  • —  a  plausible  statement 
such  as  might  have  been  made  in  defense  of  right  measures. 

After  assigning  the  houses  to  be  visited,  they  started  forth  and 
arrested  me  as  I  was  dining  with  guests.  These  they  drove  out 
and  handed  me  over  to  Piso.  The  others  went  to  the  factory  and 
had  a  list  made  of  the  slaves.  So  I  asked  Piso  whether  he  was 
willing  to  save  me  for  a  consideration,  and  he  said.  Yes,  if  it  were 
large  enough.    I  said  that  I  was  prepared  to  give  him  a  talent  of 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER  463 

silver,  and  he  agreed.  I  knew  then  that  he  had  no  regard  for 
either  gods  or  men.  However,  under  the  circumstances,  it  seemed 
to  me  absokitely  necessary  for  me  to  take  a  guarantee  of  faith  from 
him.  And  when  he  invoked  destruction  on  himself  and  his  children 
if  he  broke  his  word,  and  promised  to  save  me  if  he  got  the  talent, 
I  went  into  an  inner  room  and  opened  my  money  chest.  Piso 
noticed  this  and  came  in,  and  after  seeing  the  contents  he  sum- 
moned two  of  the  servants  and  told  them  to  take  what  was  in  the 
box.  And  when,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  he  took  not  only  what  I 
had  agreed  on,  but  three  talents  of  silver  and  four  hundred  Cyzi- 
cene  staters  and  one  hundred  Darics,  and  four  silver  bowls,  I  asked 
him  to  let  me  have  enough  for  travelling  expenses,  but  he  said  I 
would  be  in  great  luck  if  I  escaped  with  my  life. 

And  as  Piso  and  I  were  going  out,  we  fell  in  with  Melobius  and 
Mnesithides  leaving  the  factory,  who  met  us  just  at  the  doors  and 
asked  where  we  were  going.  He  said  to  my  brother's  to  see  what 
he  had  in  his  house.  So  they  said  for  him  to  go  ahead,  but  for 
me  to  follow  along  with  them  to  the  house  of  Damnippus.  But 
Piso  coming  up  to  me  told  me  to  keep  silence  and  not  to  lose 
heart,  as  he  would  come  there  too.  We  there  found  Theognis 
guarding  another  group  of  metics,  and  handing  me  over  to  him, 
they  went  off  again.  Under  the  circumstances  it  seemed  best  for 
me  to  take  a  risk,  as  I  was  likely  to  die  anyway.  So  I  called  Dam- 
nippus and  said  to  him,  "  You  happen  to  be  my  friend,  I  have  come 
to  your  house,  I  have  done  no  wrong,  but  I  am  being  destroyed  on 
account  of  my  money.  Do  you  therefore  give  all  the  help  you  can 
for  my  safety  since  I  am  in  such  a  predicament."  This  he  promised 
to  do.  But  he  thought  it  better  to  speak  of  it  to  Theognis,  for  he 
thought  he  would  do  anything  for  money.  And  while  he  was  dis- 
cussing with  Theognis,  I  thought  I  would  better  try  to  save  myself 
by  the  back  door  (I  happened  to  be  accjuainted  with  the  house  and 
knew  that  it  had  a  back  door  as  well  as  a  front  door),  thinking  that 
if  I  escaped  I  should  be  safe,  but  if  I  were  to  be  taken  I  argued  that 
if  Theognis  were  persuaded  by  Damnippus  to  take  a  bribe,  none  the 
less  I  should  get  off,  but  if  not  I  should  have  to  die  anyway.  After 
considering  these  points,  I  made  the  attempt  to  escape,  they  in  the 
meanwhile  keeping  guard  at  the  court  door ;  and  all  three  doors 


464  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

which  I  had  to  pass  through  chanced  to  be  open.  Going  to  the 
house  of  Archeneus  the  ship-captain,  I  sent  him  to  the  city  to  make 
inquiries  about  my  brother.  On  his  return  he  said  that  Eratosthenes 
had  seized  him  on  the  street  and  haled  him  off  to  prison.  After  hear- 
ing such  news,  I  sailed  for  Megara  that  night.  The  Thirty  gave 
their  usual  order  to  Polemarchus,  namely: — to  drink  poison,  with- 
out even  telling  him  the  charge  on  which  he  was  to  die  ;  so  far 
was  he  from  having  a  trial  or  chance  to  defend  himself.  And  when 
they  took  him  out  of  prison,  dead,  they  did  not  allow  the  funeral 
to  take  place  from  any  of  our  houses  (though  we  had  three),  but 
they  hired  a  little  room  and  laid  him  out  there.  And  though  he 
had  many  garments,  they  did  not  give  any  of  them  to  those  that 
asked  them  for  the  burial,  but  of  his  friends  one  gave  a  cloak,  an- 
other a  pillow,  a  third  whatever  he  chanced  to  have  for  the  funeral. 
And  though  they  had  seven  hundred  shields  of  ours,  and  so  much 
gold  and  silver,  and  copper  and  ornaments  and  furniture  and 
women's  clothes  as  they  never  expected  to  get,  and  a  hundred  and 
twenty  slaves  (of  which  they  took  the  best  and  gave  over  the  others 
to  the  state),  they  reached  such  a  pitch  of  greed  and  shamelessness 
and  made  such  an  exhibition  of  themselves  that  as  soon  as  Melobius 
went  into  the  house  he  snatched  from  the  ears  of  Polemarchus's 
wife  the  gold  ear-rings  which  she  happened  to  be  wearing. 

We  were  not  spared  by  them  in  the  smallest  trifle  of  our  prop- 
erty, but  for  the  sake  of  our  money  they  wronged  us  as  no  others 
would  have  wronged  those  against  whom  they  were  enraged  for 
the  worst  sins  ;  though  indeed  we  did  not  deserve  such  things  at 
the  hands  of  the  city,  for  we  always  furnished  our  choruses  and 
paid  many  taxes,  and  were  always  orderly  and  obedient  to  the  laws, 
and  had  no  personal  enemies,  but  (on  the  contrary)  had  ransomed 
many  Athenians  from  captivity.  Yet  they  thought  us  worthy  of  such 
treatment,  though  we  were  better  as  metics  than  they  as  citizens. 

For  they  drove  out  many  of  the  citizens  to  the  enemy,  many 
others  they  killed  unjustly  and  left  unburied,  many  others  who 
were  in  good  standing  they  deprived  of  their  political  rights,  and 
they  made  it  impossible  for  many  of  them  to  give  their  daughters  in 
marriage.  And  they  have  reached  such  a  pitch  of  effrontery  that  they 
have  come  here  to  defend  themselves,  and  say  that  they  have  done 


ATHENS  AFTER  THE  SICILIAN  DISASTER         465 

nothing  bad  or  shameful.  Would  that  their  statements  were  the 
fact !  For  then  I  should  benefit  largely  by  that !  But  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  they  have  not  treated  either  the  city  or  me  as  they  say ; 
for,  as  I  have  already  stated,  Eratosthenes  killed  my  brother,  not 
because  he  had  a  private  charge  against  him,  or  knew  that  Polemar- 
chus  was  guilty  of  any  offense  against  the  city,  but  because  he 
followed  to  the  utmost  the  prompting  of  his  own  lawlessness. 


3.  DESTRUCTION  OF  PROPERTY 

In  the  oration  "On  the  Olive  Stump"  Lysias  defends  a  man  ac- 
cused of  having  cut  down  a  sacred  olive,  the  property  of  Athena 
and  guarded  by  the  state.  His  point  is  that  during  the  time  of  the 
Thirty  everything  was  in  such  confusion  and  disorder  that  it  was 
impossible  for  any  one  to  protect  his  own  property.  Confiscation, 
wanton  destruction,  plunder  by  the  enemy,  all  happened  with  great 
frequency. 

Lysias,  VII  {^On  the  Olive  Stump),  6-7 

For  you  all  know  that  the  war  was  responsible  for  many  evils, 
and  that  property  at  a  distance  was  destroyed  by  the  Lacedaemo- 
nians, while  that  near  the  city  was  plundered  by  our  own  people. 
How  then  would  it  be  just  to  punish  me  for  the  misfortunes  which 
befell  the  city  }  particularly  since  this  vineyard  was  confiscated  dur- 
ing the  war  and  abandoned  for  more  than  three  years.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  they  cut  down  sacred  olive  trees  at  that  time  during 
which  we  were  not  able  to  protect  even  our  own  property. 

You  know,  senators,  especially  those  of  you  who  act  as  inspectors 
of  such  properties,  that  at  that  time  there  were  many  estates  thick 
with  olive  trees,  either  of  private  ownership  or  belonging  to  the 
state,  most  of  which  now  have  been  cut  down  so  that  the  land 
has  become  bare.  In  cases  where  possession  did  not  change  dur- 
ing peace  and  war,  you  do  not  think  it  right  to  punish  the  owners, 
if  someone  else  cut  down  the  trees.  And  so  if  you  absolve  from 
blame  those  who  farmed  the  land  continuously,  how  much  more 
ought  you  to  exempt  those  who  bought  it  after  peace  was  declared } 


466  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Contemporary  Sources:  Inscriptions;  Thucydides,  I-VIII;  Aristophanes, 
Comedies,  especially  Acharnians,  Knights,  Peace,  Wasps,  Lysistrata ;  Lysias, 
Orations,  especially  Against  Agoratus,  Against  Eratosthenes  ;  Isocrates,  Orations, 
Panegyric;  Antiphon,  Orations;  Euripides,  Dramas;  Eupolis,  Fragments ;  Andoc- 
ides,  OrationS;  especially  De  Mysteriis ;  Xenophon  (pseudo),  The  Polity  of  the 
Athenians;  Xenophon,  Hellenica,  I-Il. 

Derivative  Sources:  Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens;  Diodorus,  parts  of 
XII-XIV;  Plutarch,  Alcibiades,  Pericles,  Nicias,  Lysander. 

Modern  Authorities:  Botsford,  History,  chaps,  x-xi ;  Bury,  History,  chaps, 
x-xi ;  Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  Band  III,  Teil  II,  Kap.  vii,  §§30-34; 
Beloch,  Griechische  Geschichte,  Band  I,  Abschnitt  xv  (deals  chiefly  with  life  and 
culture);  Holm,  History,  Vol.  II,  chaps,  xxi-xxv,  xxvii-xxviii;  Oman,  History, 
chaps,  xxvi-xxxiv ;  Cox,  Athenian  Empire,  chaps,  iii-vii ;  Cox,  Greek  Statesmen, 
Vol.  II,  Phormion,  Archidamus,  etc. ;  Curtius,  History,  Vol.  Ill,  Bk.  IV,  chaps, 
i-v;  Grote,  History,  Vol.  VI,  chap,  xlvii ;  Vol.  VII,  chap.  Ix ;  Vol.  VIII,  chap.  Ixv  ; 
Freeman,  History  of  Sicily,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  50  ff. ;  Whibley,  Political  Parties  in 
Athens  during  the  Peloponnesian  War;  Cornford,  Thucydides  Mythistoricus ; 
Grundy,  Thucydides  and  the  History  of  his  Time ;  Croiset  (tr.  Loeb),  Aris- 
tophanes and  the  Political  Parties  in  Athens ;  Grundy,  "  An  Investigation  of  the 
Topography  of  the  Region  of  Sphacteria  and  Pylos,"  in  J.  If.  S.,  1896,  pp.  1-54; 
Burrows,  "  Pylos  and  Sphacteria,"  \n/.  H.  S.,  1896,  pp.  55-76;  1898,  pp.  147-159; 
Macurdy,  "  Alcibiades,"  in  Classical  Weekly,  1908-1909,  pp.  138-140,  145-148; 
Macurdy,  "  The  Fifth  Book  of  Thucydides  and  Three  Plays  of  Euripides,"  in  CI. 
Kev.,  1910,  pp.  205-207;  Perrin,  Plutarch's  Nicias  and  Alcibiades;  Jebb,  "The 
Speeches  of  Thucydides,"  in  Essays  and  Addresses;  Jowett,  "On  the  Inscrip- 
tions of  the  Age  of  Thucydides,"  in  his  Thucydides,  Vol.  II. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES 

Sparta — Lysander  and  his  policy  —  Agesilaus  —  War  with  Thebes  and  Athens. 
— ^ Selfish  policy  of  Sparta;  her  climax  —  The  rise  of  Thebes  —  The  peace  of 
i;.C.  371  —  Leuctra  and  its  consequences — Founding  of  Megalopolis  and  of 
Messene  —  The  battle  of  Mantinaea — Epaminondas  —  His  career — Death  and 
statues  —  Estimates  of  his  ability 

I.    Sparta 

The  close  of  the  fifth  century  had  left  Sparta  in  a  dominant 
position.  Having  humbled  her  old  rival  in  the  dust  and  dictated 
terms  to  her  and  put  her  own  oligarchical  friends  into  power,  she 
now  set  about  building  up  a  great  empire.  In  addition  to  tempera- 
mental unfitness  for  such  an  undertaking  and  the  mistake  of  trying 
to  apply  provincial  or  even  parochial  standards  to  a  great  dominion, 
two  things  contributed  largely  to  her  failure  in  the  attempt.  The 
first  was  her  tactless  and  high-handed  way  of  dealing  with  her 
allies ;  her  haughty  attitude  and  dictatorial  tone  made  her  thor- 
oughly detested  by  them,  and  many  broke  loose  when  they  dared. 
The  second  reason  was  the  rivalry  between  the  two  great  generals, 
Lysander  and  King  Agesilaus,  who  advocated  diametrically  opposed 
policies,  though  there  was  never  an  open  breach  between  them. 

1.  LYSANDER  AND   HIS  POLICY 

The  aggressive,  domineering  policy  of  Lysander  is  well  seen 
in  the  passages  which  follow. 

The  allies  revolted,  and  Lysander  was  slain  in  battle  before  the 
arrival  of  his  colleague  Pausanias,  who  was  coming  from  the  other 
direction  to  meet  him. 

467 


468  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

Plutarch,  Lysander,  5,  13 

Lysander,  meanwhile,  invited  to  Ephesus  such  persons  in  the 
various  cities  as  he  saw  to  be  bolder  and  haughtier-spirited  than 
the  rest,  proceeded  to  lay  the  foundations  of  that  government  by 
bodies  of  ten,  and  those  revolutions  which  afterwards  came  to  pass, 
stirring  up  and  urging  them  to  unite  in  clubs  and  apply  themselves 
to  public  affairs,  since  as  soon  as  ever  the  Athenians  should  be 
put  down,  the  popular  government,  he  said,  should  be  suppressed 
and  they  should  become  supreme  in  their  several  countries.  And 
he  made  them  believe  these  things  by  present  deeds,  promoting 
those  who  were  his  friends  already  to  great  employments,  honours, 
and  offices,  and,  to  gratify  their  covetousness,  making  himself  a 
partner  in  injustice  and  wickedness.  So  much  so,  that  all  flocked 
to  him,  and  courted  and  desired  him,  hoping,  if  he  remained  in 
power,  that  the  highest  wishes  they  could  form  would  all  be 
gratified.  .  .  . 

After  this  Lysander,  sailing  about  to  the  various  cities,  bade  all 
the  Athenians  he  met  go  into  Athens,  declaring  that  he  would 
spare  none,  but  kill  every  man  whom  he  found  out  of  the  city, 
intending  thus  to  cause  immediate  famine  and  scarcity  there,  that 
they  might  not  make  the  siege  laborious  to  him,  having  provisions 
sufficient  to  endure  it.  And  suppressing  the  popular  governments 
and  all  other  constitutions,  he  left  one  Lacedaemonian  chief  officer 
in  every  city,  with  ten  rulers  to  act  with  him,  selected  out  of  the 
societies  which  he  had  previously  formed  in  the  different  towns. 
And  doing  thus  as  well  in  the  cities  of  his  enemies  as  of  his  asso- 
ciates, he  sailed  leisurely  on,  establishing,  in  a  manner,  for  himself 
supremacy  over  the  whole  of  Greece.  Neither  did  he  make  choice 
of  rulers  by  birth  or  by  wealth,  but  bestowed  the  offices  on  his  own 
friends  and  partisans,  doing  everything  to  please  them,  and  putting 
absolute  power  of  reward  and  punishment  into  their  hands.  And 
thus,  personally  appearing  on  many  occasions  of  bloodshed  and 
massacre,  and  aiding  his  friends  to  expel  their  opponents,  he  did 
not  give  the  Greeks  a  favourable  specimen  of  the  Lacedaemonian 
government. 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN   SUPREMACIES  469 

Plutarch,  Lysa?ider,  17 

But  the  wisest  of  the  Spartans,  very  much  on  account  of  this 
occurrence,  dreading  the  influence  of  money,  as  being  what  had 
corrupted  the  greatest  citizens,  exclaimed  against  Lysander's  con- 
duct, and  declared  to  the  Ephors  that  all  the  silver  and  gold  should 
be  sent  away,  as  mere  "alien  mischiefs."  These  consulted  about 
it ;  and  Theopompus  says  it  was  Sciraphidas,  but  Ephorus  that  it 
was  Phlogidas,  who  declared  they  ought  not  to  receive  any  gold  or 
silver  into  the  city  ;  but  to  use  their  own  country  coin,  which  was 
iron,  and  was  first  of  all  dipped  in  vinegar  when  it  was  red-hot, 
that  it  might  not  be  worked  up  anew,  but  because  of  the  dipping 
might  be  hard  and  unpliable.  It  was  also,  of  course,  very  heavy 
and  troublesome  to  carry,  and  a  great  deal  of  it  in  quantity  and 
weight  was  but  a  little  in  value.  And  perhaps  all  the  old  money 
was  so,  coin  consisting  of  iron,  or,  in  some  countries,  copper  skew- 
ers, whence  it  comes  that  we  still  find  a  great  number  of  small 
pieces  of  money  retain  the  name  of  obohis,  and  the  drachma  is  six 
of  these,  because  so  much  may  be  grasped  in  one's  hand.  But 
Lysander's  friends  being  against  it,  and  endeavouring  to  keep  the 
money  in  the  city,  it  was  resolved  to  bring  in  this  sort  of  money 
to  be  used  publicly,  enacting,  at  the  same  time,  that  if  any  one  was 
found  in  possession  of  any  privately,  he  should  be  put  to  death, 
as  if  Lycurgus  had  feared  the  coin,  and  not  the  covetousness  re- 
sulting from  it,  which  they  did  not  repress  by  letting  no  private 
man  keep  any,  so  much  as  they  encouraged  it,  by  allowing  the  state 
to  possess  it ;  attaching  thereby  a  sort  of  dignity  to  it,  over  and 
above  its  ordinary  utility. 

Plutarch,  Lysander,  19,  23 

This  ambitious  temper  was  indeed  only  burdensome  to  the 
highest  personages  and  to  his  equals,  but  through  having  so 
many  people  devoted  to  serve  him,  an  extreme  haughtiness 
and  contemptuousness  grew  up,  together  with  ambition,  in  his 
character.  He  observed  no  sort  of  moderation,  such  as  befitted 
a  private  man,  either  in  rewarding  or  in  punishing ;  the  rec- 
ompense of  his  friends  and  guests  was  absolute  power  over 
cities,   and  irresponsible  authority,  and  the  only  satisfaction  of 


470  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

his  wrath  was  the  destruction  of  his  enemy ;    banishment  would 
not  suffice,  .  .  . 

Immediately,  therefore,  Lysander  spurred  him  [Agesilaus]  on 
to  make  an  expedition  into  Asia,  putting  him  in  hopes  that  he 
might  destroy  the  Persians,  and  attain  the  height  of  greatness. 
And  he  wrote  to  his  friends  in  Asia,  bidding  them  request  to  have 
Agesilaus  appointed  to  command  them  in  the  war  against  the  bar- 
barians ;  which  they  were  persuaded  to,  and  sent  ambassadors  to 
Lacedaemon  to  entreat  it.  And  this  would  seem  to  be  a  second 
favour  done  Agesilaus  by  Lysander,  not  inferior  to  his  first  in  ob- 
taining him  the  kingdom.  But  with  ambitious  natures,  otherwise 
not  ill  qualified  for  command,  the  feeling  of  jealousy  of  those  near 
them  in  reputation  continually  stands  in  the  way  of  the  perform- 
ance of  noble  actions  ;  they  make  those  their  rivals  in  virtue,  whom 
they  ought  to  use  as  their  helpers  to  it.  Agesilaus  took  Lysander, 
among  the  thirty  counsellors  that  accompanied  him,  with  intentions 
of  using  him  as  his  especial  friend  ;  but  when  they  were  come  into 
Asia,  the  inhabitants  there,  to  whom  he  was  but  little  known,  ad- 
dressed themselves  to  him  but  little  and  seldom ;  whereas  Lysander, 
because  of  their  frequent  previous  intercourse,  was  visited  and  at- 
tended by  large  numbers,  by  his  friends  out  of  observance,  and  by 
others  out  of  fear ;  and  just  as  in  tragedies  it  not  uncommonly  is 
the  case  with  the  actors,  the  person  who  represents  a  messenger 
or  servant  is  much  taken  notice  of,  and  plays  the  chief  part,  while 
he  who  wears  the  crown  and  sceptre  is  hardly  heard  to  speak,  even 
so  was  it  about  the  counsellor,  he  had  all  the  real  honours  of  the 
government,  and  to  the  king  was  left  the  empty  name  of  power. 
This  disproportionate  ambition  ought  very  likely  to  have  been  in 
some  way  softened  down,  and  Lysander  should  have  been  reduced 
to  his  proper  second  place,  but  wholly  to  cast  off  and  to  insult  and 
affront  for  glory's  sake  one  who  was  his  benefactor  and  friend  was 
not  worthy  Agesilaus  to  allow  in  himself.  For,  first  of  all,  he  gave 
him  no  opportunity  for  any  action,  and  never  set  him  in  any  place 
of  command  ;  then,  for  whomsoever  he  perceived  him  exerting  his 
interest,  these  persons  he  always  sent  away  with  a  refusal,  and  with 
less  attention  than  any  ordinary  suitors,  thus  silently  undoing  and 
weakening  his  influence. 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES  471 

Xenophon,  HeUcnica,  III,  iv,  2 

These  reports  threw  the  Lacedasmonians  into  a  flutter  of  ex- 
pectation and  anxiety.  They  summoned  a  meeting  of  the  aUies, 
and  began  to  dehberate  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done.  Lysander, 
convinced  of  the  enormous  superiority  of  the  Hellenic  navy,  and 
with  regard  to  land  forces  drawing  an  obvious  inference  from  the 
exploits  and  final  deliverance  of  the  troops  with  Cyrus,  persuaded 
Agesilaus  to  undertake  a  campaign  into  Asia,  provided  the  authori- 
ties would  furnish  him  with  thirty  Spartans,  two  thousand  of  the 
enfranchised,  and  contingents  of  the  allies  amounting  to  six  thou- 
sand men.  Apart  from  these  calculations,  Lysander  had  a  personal 
object :  he  wished  to  accompany  the  king  himself,  and  by  his  aid 
to  re-establish  the  decarchies  originally  set  up  by  himself  in  the 
different  cities,  but  at  a  later  date  expelled  through  the  action  of 
the  ephors,  who  had  issued  a  fiat  re-establishing  the  old  order  of 
constitution. 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  III,  v,  17-25 

And  now  the  Lacedsemonians  no  longer  hesitated.  Pausanias 
the  king  advanced  into  Boeotia  with  the  home  army  and  the  whole 
of  the  Peloponnesian  contingents,  saving  only  the  Corinthians,  who 
declined  to  serve.  Lysander,  at  the  head  of  the  army  supplied  by 
the  Phocians  and  Orchomenus  and  the  other  strong  places  in  those 
parts,  had  already  reached  Haliartus,  in  front  of  Pausanias.  Being 
arrived,  he  refused  to  sit  down  quietly  and  await  the  arrival  of  the 
army  from  Lacedaemon,  but  at  once  marched  with  what  troops  he 
had  against  the  walls  of  Haliartus;  and  in  the  first  instance  he 
tried  to  persuade  the  citizens  to  detach  themselves  from  Thebes 
and  to  assume  autonomy,  but  the  intention  was  cut  short  by  certain 
Thebans  within  the  fortress.  Whereupon  Lysander  attacked  the 
place.  The  Thebans  were  made  aware,  and  hurried  to  the  rescue 
with  heavy  infantry  and  cavalry.  Then,  whether  it  was  that  the 
army  of  relief  fell  upon  Lysander  unawares,  or  that  with  clear 
knowledge  of  his  approach  he  preferred  to  await  the  enemy,  with 
intent  to  crush  him,  is  uncertain.  This  only  is  clear :  a  battle  was 
fought  beside  the  walls,  and  a  trophy  still  exists  to  mark  the  vic- 
tory of  the  townsfolk  before  the  gates  of  Haliartus.    Lysander  was 


472  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

slain,  and  the  rest  fled  to  the  mountains,  the  Thebans  hotly  pursu- 
ing. But  when  the  pursuit  had  led  them  to  some  considerable 
height,  and  they  were  fairly  environed  and  hemmed  in  by  difficult 
ground  and  narrow  space,  then  the  heavy  infantry  turned  to  bay, 
and  greeted  them  with  a  shower  of  darts  and  missiles.  First  two 
or  three  men  dropped  who  had  been  foremost  of  the  pursuers,  and 
then  upon  the  rest  they  poured  volleys  of  stones  down  the  pre- 
cipitous incline,  and  pressed  on  their  late  pursuers  with  much  zeal, 
until  the  Thebans  turned  tail  and  quitted  the  deadly  slope,  leaving 
behind  them  more  than  a  couple  of  hundred  corpses. 

On  this  day,  therefore,  the  hearts  of  the  Thebans  failed  them 
as  they  counted  their  losses  and  found  them  equal  to  their  gains  ; 
but  the  next  day  they  discovered  that  during  the  night  the  Pho- 
cians  and  the  rest  of  them  had  made  off  to  their  several  homes, 
whereupon  they  fell  to  pluming  themselves  highly  on  their  achieve- 
ment. But  presently  Pausanias  appeared  at  the  head  of  the  Lace- 
daemonian army,  and  once  more  their  dangers  seemed  to  thicken 
round  them.  Deep,  we  are  told,  was  the  silence  and  abasement 
which  reigned  in  their  host.  It  was  not  until  the  third  day,  when 
the  Athenians  arrived,  and  were  duly  drawn  up  beside  them,  whilst 
Pausanias  neither  attacked  nor  offered  battle,  that  at  length  the 
confidence  of  the  Thebans  took  a  larger  range.  Pausanias,  on  his 
side,  having  summoned  his  generals  and  commanders  of  fifties, 
deliberated  whether  to  give  battle  or  to  content  himself  with  pick- 
ing up  the  bodies  of  Lysander  and  of  those  who  fell  with  him, 
under  cover  of  a  truce. 

The  considerations  which  weighed  on  the  minds  of  Pausanias 
and  the  other  high  officers  of  the  Lacedaemonians  seem  to  have 
been  that  Lysander  was  dead  and  his  defeated  army  in  retreat ; 
while,  as  far  as  they  themselves  were  concerned,  the  Corinthian 
contingent  was  absolutely  wanting,  and  the  zeal  of  the  troops  there 
present  at  the  lowest  ebb.  They  further  reasoned  that  the  enemy's 
cavalry  was  numerous  and  theirs  the  reverse  ;  whilst,  weightiest  of 
all,  there  lay  the  dead  right  under  the  walls,  so  that  if  they  had 
been  ever  so  much  stronger  it  would  have  been  no  easy  task  to 
pick  up  the  bodies  within  range  of  the  towers  of  Haliartus.  On  all 
these  grounds  they  determined  to  ask  for  a  flag  of  truce,  in  order 


SPARTAN  AND  THEEAN  SUPREMACIES  473 

to  pick  up  the  bodies  of  the  slain.  These,  however,  the  Thebans 
were  not  disposed  to  give  back  unless  they  agreed  to  retire  from 
their  territory.  The  terms  were  gladly  accepted  by  the  Lacedae- 
monians, who  at  once  picked  up  the  corpses  of  the  slain,  and  pre- 
pared to  quit  the  territory  of  Bceotia.  The  preliminaries  were 
transacted,  and  the  retreat  commenced.  Despondent  indeed  was 
the  demeanour  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  in  contrast  with  the  insolent 
bearing  of  the  Thebans,  who  visited  the  slightest  attempt  to  tres- 
pass on  their  private  estates  with  blows  and  chased  the  offenders 
back  on  to  the  high  roads  unflinchingly.  Such  was  the  conclusion 
of  the  campaign  of  the  Lacedaemonians. 

As  for  Pausanias,  on  his  arrival  at  home  he  was  tried  on  the 
capital  charge.  The  heads  of  indictment  set  forth  that  he  had 
failed  to  reach  Haliartus  as  soon  as  Lysander,  in  spite  of  his  under- 
taking to  be  there  on  the  same  day  :  that,  instead  of  using  any  en- 
deavour to  pick  up  the  bodies  of  the  slain  by  force  of  arms,  he  had 
asked  for  a  flag  of  truce  :  that  at  an  earlier  date,  when  he  had  got 
the  popular  government  of  Athens  fairly  in  his  grip  at  Piraeus,  he 
had  suffered  it  to  slip  through  his  fingers  and  escape.  Besides  this, 
he  failed  to  present  himself  at  the  trial,  and  a  sentence  of  death 
was  passed  upon  him.  He  escaped  to  Tegea  and  there  died  of 
an  illness  whilst  still  in  exile.  Thus  closes  the  chapter  of  events 
enacted  on  the  soil  of  Hellas. 

Isocrates,  the  orator,  who  was  always  anti-Spartan  in  spite  of 
his  dream  of  Pan-Hellenic  unity,  gives  scathing  criticisms  of  Lace- 
daemonian character  and  policy. 

Isocrates,  IV  (^Panegyricns),  iii— ii6 

For  what  form  of  oppression  escaped  them  1  Or  what  deed  of 
shame  or  cruelty  did  they  not  perpetrate  .?  They  deemed  the  most 
lawless  to  be  most  faithful,  they  courted  traitors  as  benefactors, 
and  chose  to  be  slaves  to  one  of  the  Helots,  so  as  to  outrage  their 
own  country  ;  they  honoured  the  assassins  and  murderers  of  their 
fellow-citizens  more  than  their  own  parents,  and  brought  us  all  to 
such  a  pitch  of  savagery,  that  whereas  in  former  times,  on  account 
of  the  prevailing  happiness,  each  of  us  found  many  to  sympathize 
with  us  even  in  small  misfortunes,  under  their  rule,  owing  to  the 


474  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

multitude  of  our  own  peculiar  ills,  we  left  off  pitying  each  other ; 
for  they  left  no  one  sufficient  leisure  to  share  another's  sorrow. 
Whom  did  these  tyrants  not  reach  ?  Or  who  was  so  remote  from 
public  life  that  he  was  not  compelled  to  come  into  close  contact 
with  the  calamities  into  which  such  creatures  plunged  us  ?  Then, 
they  are  not  ashamed  of  their  lawless  treatment  of  their  own  states 
or  of  their  unjust  accusations  against  ours,  but  in  addition  to  their 
other  offenses  they  even  venture  to  speak  of  the  lawsuits  and  in- 
dictments which  at  times  have  occurred  amongst  us,  when  they 
themselves  put  to  death  more  men  untried  in  three  months  than 
our  state  brought  to  trial  during  the  whole  time  of  its  supremacy. 
The  banishments  and  seditions,  the  confounding  of  laws  and  politi- 
cal revolutions,  nay  more,  the  outrages  upon  children,  the  insults 
to  women,  the  confiscations  —  who  could  recount  them  .?  Only  I 
can  say  this  much  on  the  whole  matter,  that  the  acts  of  wrong 
committed  in  our  time  might  easily  have  been  abolished  by  a  single 
decree  of  the  assembly,  but  the  massacres  and  the  lawlessness  which 
took  place  under  them  cannot  be  repaired  by  anyone.  Indeed, 
even  the  present  peace  and  the  independence  which  is  inscribed 
in  treaties,  but  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  states,  are  not  preferable  to 
our  empire.  For  who  would  desire  a  condition  of  things  in  which 
pirates  hold  the  sea  and  targeteers  occupy  the  cities,  and,  instead 
of  making  war  against  strangers  in  defence  of  their  country,  the 
citizens  fight  with  each  other  inside  the  walls  ;  more  cities  have 
been  taken  in  war  than  before  we  concluded  the  peace,  and  on 
account  of  the  frequency  of  revolutions  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities 
live  in  greater  despondency  than  those  who  have  been  punished 
with  exile  ;  for  the  former  dread  the  future,  while  the  latter  are 
continually  expecting  to  return  home. 

Isocrates,  IV,  122-128 

Bearing  all  this  in  mind,  it  is  but  right  to  be  indignant  at  the 
existing  condition  of  things,  and  to  mourn  the  loss  of  our  leader- 
ship, and  to  censure  the  Lacedaemonians  in  that,  although  in  the 
beginning  they  undertook  the  war  as  if  with  the  purpose  of  liberat- 
ing the  Hellenes,  at  the  close  they  have  visited  so  many  of  them 
with  betrayal,  and  have  caused  the  lonians  to  revolt  from  our  state, 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES  475 

from  which  they  emigrated  and  by  whose  influence  they  were  often 
saved  from  danger,  and  have  given  them  over  to  the  barbarians, 
against  whose  will  they  possess  their  territory,  and  with  whom  they 
have  never  ceased  fighting.  In  former  days  the  Lacedaemonians 
were  indignant  when  we  desired  to  rule  over  some  people  in  a 
lawful  manner ;  now,  on  the  contrary,  they  take  no  heed  of  these 
states,  when  reduced  to  such  slavery,  that  it  is  not  enough  for  them 
to  be  subject  to  tribute  and  to  see  their  citadels  occupied  by  their 
enemies,  but  in  addition  to  the  public  calamities  they  suffer  in  their 
own  persons  harsher  treatment  than  our  bought  slaves  ;  for  no  one 
of  us  illtreats  his  servants  in  such  fashion  as  they  chastise  free 
men.  But  the  greatest  of  their  miseries  is  the  being  compelled  to 
carry  arms  in  the  very  cause  of  slaveiy,  and  to  fight  against  those 
who  claim  to  be  free,  when  the  perils  they  undergo  are  of  such  a 
nature  that  if  defeated  they  will  be  immediately  destroyed,  and  if 
successful  will  be  more  deeply  enslaved  for  all  future  time.  Whom 
should  we  consider  responsible  for  these  things  but  the  Lacedaemo- 
nians, who,  great  as  is  their  strength,  suffer  their  own  allies  to  be 
brought  to  such  a  depth  of  misery,  and  the  barbarian  to  establish  his 
own  sway  by  the  aid  of  the  might  of  the  Hellenes  }  Again,  though 
in  former  times  they  used  to  expel  tyrants,  and  give  support  to  the 
people,  they  have  now  changed  so  completely  that  they  go  to  war 
with  constitutional  governments  and  help  to  establish  monarchies. 
Mantinea,  for  instance,  after  peace  was  concluded,  they  laid  in  ruins, 
they  seized  the  Cadmea  of  Thebes,  and  are  now  besieging  the 
Olynthians  and  the  Phliasians,  and  they  are  assisting  Amyntas,  the 
king  of  the  Macedonians,  and  Dionysius,  the  tyrant  of  Sicily,  and 
the  barbarian  who  is  master  of  Asia,  to  extend  their  power  as 
widely  as  possible.  Yet  is  it  not  strange  that  the  leaders  of  Hellas 
should  establish  one  man  as  master  of  human  beings  so  numerous 
that  it  is  not  even  easy  to  ascertain  their  number,  and  yet  should 
not  allow  the  greatest  states  to  have  control  even  of  themselves, 
but  should  compel  them  to  suffer  slavery  or  to  incur  the  greatest 
calamities  ?  But  the  most  monstrous  thing  of  all  is  to  see  those 
who  claim  to  have  the  leadership  fighting  every  day  against  the 
Hellenes,  and  united  in  alliance  for  all  time  with  the  barbarians. 


476  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

2.   AGESILAUS 

In  the  meantime  Agesilaus  was  away  on  an  expedition  in  Asia 
helping  the  Greek  cities  in  a  revolt  against  Persian  rule.  He  was 
in  the  midst  of  great  success  when,  much  to  his  regret,  he  was 
recalled  to  Greece  to  help  the  Spartan  cause  there. 

Plutarch,  Agesilaus,  15 

Many  parts  of  Asia  now  revolting  from  the  Persians,  Agesilaus 
restored  order  in  the  cities,  and  without  bloodshed  or  banishment 
of  any  of  their  members  re-established  the  proper  constitution  in 
the  governments,  and  now  resolved  to  carry  away  the  war  from  the 
seaside,  and  to  march  further  up  into  the  country,  and  to  attack 
the  King  of  Persia  himself  in  his  own  home  in  Susa  and  Ecbatana ; 
not  willing  to  let  the  monarch  sit  idle  in  his  chair,  playing  umpire 
in  the  conflicts  of  the  Greeks,  and  bribing  their  popular  leaders. 
But  these  great  thoughts  were  interrupted  by  unhappy  news  from 
Sparta ;  Epicydidas  is  from  thence  sent  to  remand  him  home,  to 
assist  his  own  country,  which  was  then  involved  in  a  great  war:  — 

Greece  to  herself  doth  a  barbarian  grow, 
Others  could  not,  she  doth  herself  o'erthrow. 

What  better  can  we  say  of  those  jealousies,  and  that  league  and 
conspiracy  of  the  Greeks  for  their  own  mischief,  which  arrested 
fortune  in  full  career,  and  turned  back  arms  that  were  already 
uplifted  against  the  barbarians,  to  be  used  upon  themselves, 
and  recalled  into  Greece  the  war  which  had  been  banished  out 
of  her  ?  .  .  . 

Nothing  was  greater  or  nobler  than  the  behaviour  of  Agesilaus 
on  this  occasion,  nor  can  a  nobler  instance  be  found  in  story  of  a 
ready  obedience  and  just  deference  to  orders.  Hannibal,  though 
in  a  bad  condition  himself,  and,  almost  driven  out  of  Italy,  could 
scarcely  be  induced  to  obey  when  he  was  called  home  to  serve  his 
country.  Alexander  made  a  jest  of  the  battle  between  Agis  and 
Antipater,  laughing  and  saying,  "'  So,  whilst  we  were  conquering 
Darius  in  Asia,  it  seems  there  was  a  battle  of  mice  in  Arcadia." 
Happy  Sparta,  meanwhile,  in  the  justice  and  modesty  of  Agesilaus, 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN   SUPREMACIES  477 

and  in  the  deference  he  paid  to  the  laws  of  his  countiy ;  who,  im- 
mediately upon  receipt  of  his  orders,  though  in  the  midst  of  his 
high  fortune  and  power,  and  in  full  hope  of  great  and  glorious  suc- 
cess, gave  all  up  and  instantly  departed,  "  his  object  unachieved," 
leaving  many  regrets  behind  him  among  his  allies  in  Asia,  and 
proving  by  his  example  the  falseness  of  that  saying  of  Demostratus, 
the  son  of  Phaeax,  "that  the  Lacedaemonians  were  better  in  public, 
but  the  Athenians  in  private."  P^or  while  approving  himself  an 
excellent  king  and  general,  he  likewise  showed  himself  in  private 
an  excellent  friend  and  a  most  agreeable  companion. 

The  coin  of  Persia  was  stamped  with  the  figure  of  an  archer ; 
Agesilaus  said,  that  a  thousand  Persian  archers  had  driven  him 
out  of  Asia  ;  meaning  the  money  that  had  been  laid  out  in  bribing 
the  demagogues  and  the  orators  in  Thebes  and  Athens,  and  thus 
inciting  those  two  states  to  hostility  against  Sparta. 

Xenophon,  Helknica,  IV,  i,  41-ii,  4 

B.C.  394.  But  to  return  to  the  actual  moment.  Agesilaus  was  as 
good  as  his  word,  and  at  once  marched  out  of  the  territory  of  Pharna- 
bazus.  The  season  verged  on  spring.  Reaching  the  plain  of  Thebe, 
he  encamped  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  temple  of  Artemis  of 
Astyra,  and  there  employed  himself  in  collecting  troops  from  every 
side,  in  addition  to  those  which  he  already  had,  so  as  to  form  a 
complete  armament.  These  preparations  were  pressed  forward  with 
a  view  to  penetrating  as  far  as  possible  into  the  interior.  He  was 
persuaded  that  every  tribe  or  nation  placed  in  his  rear  might  be 
considered  as  alienated  from  the  king. 

Such  were  the  concerns  and  projects  of  Agesilaus.  Meanwhile 
the  Lacedaemonians  at  home  were  quite  alive  to  the  fact  that 
moneys  had  been  sent  into  Hellas,  and  that  the  bigger  states  were 
leagued  together  to  declare  war  against  them.  It  was  hard  to  avoid 
the  conclusion  that  Sparta  herself  was  in  actual  danger  and  that  a 
campaign  was  inevitable.  While  busy,  therefore,  with  preparations 
themselves,  they  lost  no  time  in  despatching  Epicydidas  to  fetch 
Agesilaus.  That  officer,  on  his  arrival,  explained  the  position  of 
affairs,  and  concluded  by  delivering  a  peremptory  summons  of  the 
state  recalling  him  to  the  assistanceof  the  fatherland  without  delay. 


478  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

The  announcement  could  not  but  come  as  a  grievous  blow  to  Agesi- 
laus,  as  he  reflected  on  the  vanished  hopes,  and  the  honours  plucked 
from  his  grasp.  Still,  he  summoned  the  allies  and  announced  to 
them  the  contents  of  the  despatch  from  home.  "  To  aid  our  father- 
land," he  added,  "is  an  imperative  duty.  If,  however,  matters 
turn  out  well  on  the  other  side,  rely  upon  it,  friends  and  allies,  I 
will  not  forget  you,  but  I  shall  be  back  anon  to  carry  out  your 
wishes."  When  they  heard  the  announcement  many  wept,  and 
they  passed  a  resolution,  one  and  all,  to  join  Agesilaus  in  assisting 
Lacedaemon ;  if  matters  turned  out  well  there,  they  undertook  to 
take  him  as  their  leader  and  come  back  again  to  Asia  ;  and  so  they 
fell  to  making  preparations  to  follow  him. 

XenOPHON,  Agesilaus,  I,  35-38 

It  was  then  that  the  Persian  king,  believing  that  Tissaphernes 
was  to  blame  for  the  ill  success  of  his  affairs,  sent  down  Tithraustes 
and  cut  off  the  satrap's  head.  After  this  the  fortunes  of  the 
barbarians  grew  still  more  desperate,  whilst  those  of  Agesilaus  as- 
sumed a  bolder  front.  On  all  sides  embassies  from  the  surround- 
ing nations  came  to  make  terms  of  friendship,  and  numbers  even 
came  over  to  him,  stretching  out  eager  arms  to  grasp  at  freedom. 
So  that  Agesilaus  was  now  no  longer  the  chosen  captain  of  the 
Hellenes  only,  but  of  many  Asiatics. 

And  here  we  may  pause  and  consider  what  a  weight  of  admira- 
tion is  due  to  one  who,  being  now  ruler  over  countless  cities  of  the 
continent,  and  islands  also  (since  the  state  had  further  entrusted 
her  navy  to  his  hands),  just  when  he  had  reached  this  pinnacle  of 
renown  and  power,  and  might  look  to  turn  to  account  his  thronging 
fortunes  ;  when,  too,  which  overtops  all  else,  he  was  cherishing 
fond  hopes  to  dissolve  that  empire  which  in  former  days  had  dared 
to  march  on  Hellas  ;  —  at  such  a  moment  suffered  himself  not  to 
be  overmastered  by  these  promptings,  but  on  receipt  of  a  summons 
of  the  home  authorities  to  come  to  the  assistance  of  the  fatherland, 
obeyed  the  mandate  of  his  state  as  readily  as  though  he  had  stood 
confronted  face  to  face  with  the  Five  in  the  hall  of  ephors  ;  and 
thus  gave  clear  proof  that  he  would  not  accept  the  whole  earth  in 
exchange  for  the  land  of  his  fathers,  nor  newly-acquired  in  place 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN   SUPREMACIES  479 

of  ancient  friends,  nor  base  gains  ingloriously  purchased  rather 
than  the  perilous  pursuit  of  honor  and  uprightness. 

And,  indeed,  glancing  back  at  the  whole  period  during  which 
he  remained  in  the  exercise  of  his  authority,  no  act  of  deeper  sig- 
nificance in  proof  of  his  kingly  qualities  need  be  named  than  this. 
He  found  the  cities  which  he  was  sent  out  to  govern  each  and  all 
a  prey  to  factions,  the  result  of  constitutional  disturbances  conse- 
quent on  the  cessation  of  the  Athenian  empire,  and  without  resort 
to  exile  or  sanguinary  measures  he  so  disposed  them  by  his  healing 
presence  that  civil  concord  and  material  prosperity  were  perma- 
nently maintained.  Therefore  it  was  that  the  Hellenes  in  Asia 
deplored  his  departure  as  though  they  had  lost,  not  simply  a  ruler, 
but  a  father  or  bosom  friend,  and  in  the  end  they  showed  that  their 
friendship  was  of  no  fictitious  character.  At  any  rate,  they  volun- 
tarily helped  him  to  succour  Lacedaemon,  though  it  involved,  as 
they  knew,  the  need  of  doing  battle  with  combatants  of  equal 
prowess  with  themselves.  So  the  tale  of  his  achievements  in  Asia 
has  an  end. 

3.  WAR  WITH  THEBES  AND  ATHENS 

Thebes  at  this  time  was  urging  Athens,  with  all  eloquence,  to 
form  an  alliance  with  her  against  Sparta.  It  was  voted  to  do  so, 
and  the  text  of  the  treaty  of  alliance  still  remains  in  part. 

The  battle  of  Corinth  was  the  most  important  engagement. 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  III,  v,  9-16 

"  But  to  pass  on  —  we  all  know,  men  of  Athens,  that  you  would 
like  to  recover  the  empire  which  you  formerly  possessed  ;  and  how 
can  you  compass  your  object  better  than  by  coming  to  the  aid  your- 
selves of  the  victims  of  Lacedaemonian  injustice  1  Is  it  their  wide 
empire  of  which  you  are  afraid  }  Let  not  that  make  cowards  of 
you  —  much  rather  let  it  embolden  you  as  you  lay  to  heaet  and 
ponder  your  own  case.  When  your  empire  was  widest  then  the 
crop  of  your  enemies  was  thickest.  Only  so  long  as  they  found  no 
opportunity  to  revolt  did  they  keep  their  hatred  of  you  dark  ;  but 
no  sooner  had  they  found  a  champion  in  Lacedaemon  than  they 


48o  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

at  once  showed  what  they  really  felt  towards  you.  So  too  to-day. 
Let  us  show  plainly  that  we  mean  to  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder 
embattled  against  the  Lacedaemonians ;  and  haters  enough  of 
them  —  whole  armies  —  never  fear,  will  be  forthcoming.  To  prove 
the  truth  of  this  assertion  you  need  only  to  count  upon  your  fingers. 
How  many  friends  have  they  left  to  them  to-day  ?  The  Argives 
have  been,  are,  and  ever  will  be,  hostile  to  them.  Of  course.  But 
the  Eleians  ?  Why,  the  Eleians  have  quite  lately  been  robbed  of 
so  much  territory  and  so  many  cities  that  their  friendship  is  con- 
verted into  hatred.  And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  Corinthians  ? 
the  Arcadians  ?  the  Achaeans  ?  In  the  war  which  Sparta  waged 
against  you,  there  was  no  toil,  no  danger,  no  expense,  which  those 
peoples  did  not  share,  in  obedience  to  the  dulcet  coaxings  and 
persuasions  of  that  power.  The  Lacedaemonians  gained  what  they 
wanted,  and  then  not  one  fractional  portion  of  empire,  honour,  or 
wealth  did  these  faithful  followers  come  in  for.  That  is  not  all. 
They  have  no  scruple  in  appointing  their  helots  as  governors,  and 
on  the  free  necks  of  their  allies,  in  the  day  of  their  good  fortune, 
they  have  planted  the  tyrant's  heel. 

"'  Take  again  the  case  of  those  whom  they  have  detached  from 
yourselves.  In  the  most  patent  way  they  have  cajoled  and  cheated 
them  ;  in  place  of  freedom  they  have  presented  them  with  a  two- 
fold slavery.  The  allies  are  tyrannised  over  by  the  governor  and 
tyrannised  over  by  the  ten  commissioners  set  up  by  Lysander  over 
every  subject  city.  And  to  come  lastly  to  the  great  king.  In  spite 
of  all  the  enormous  contributions  with  which  he  aided  them  to  gain 
a  mastery  over  you,  is  the  lord  of  Asia  one  whit  better  off  to-day 
than  if  he  had  taken  exactly  the  opposite  course  and  joined  you 
in  reducing  them  .? 

"Is  it  not  clear  that  you  have  only  to  step  forward  once  again 
as  the  champions  of  this  crowd  of  sufferers  from  injustice,  and  you 
will  attain  to  a  pinnacle  of  power  quite  uprecedented  ?  In  the  days 
of  your  old  empire  you  were  leaders  of  the  maritime  powers  merely 
—  that  is  clear ;  but  your  new  empire  to-day  will  be  universal. 
You  will  have  at  your  backs  not  only  your  former  subjects,  but 
ourselves,  and  the  Peloponnesians,  and  the  king  himself,  with  all 
that  mighty  power  which  is  his.    We  do  not  deny  that  we  were 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES  48 1 

serviceable  allies  enough  to  Lacedaemon,  as  you  will  bear  us  wit- 
ness ;  but  this  we  say  :  —  If  we  helped  the  Lacedaemonians  vigor- 
ously in  the  past,  everything  tends  to  show  that  we  shall  help  you 
still  more  vigorously  to-day ;  for  our  swords  will  be  unsheathed, 
not  in  behalf  of  islanders,  or  Syracusans,  or  men  of  alien  stock, 
as  happened  in  the  late  war,  but  of  ourselves,  suffering  under  a 
sense  of  wrong.  And  there  is  another  important  fact  which  you 
ought  to  realise  :  this  selfish  system  of  organised  greed  which  is 
Sparta's  will  fall  more  readily  to  pieces  than  your  own  late  empire. 
Yours  was  the  proud  assertion  of  naval  empire  over  subjects  power- 
less by  sea.  Theirs  is  the  selfish  sway  of  a  minority  asserting  do- 
minion over  states  equally  well  armed  with  themselves,  and  many 
times  more  numerous.  Here  our  remarks  end.  Do  not  forget,  how- 
ever, men  of  Athens,  that  as  far  as  we  can  understand  the  matter, 
the  field  to  which  we  invite  you  is  destined  to  prove  far  richer  in 
blessings  to  your  own  state  of  Athens  than  to  ours,  Thebes." 

With  these  words  the  speaker  ended.  Among  the  Athenians, 
speaker  after  speaker  spoke  in  favour  of  the  proposition,  and 
finally  a  unanimous  resolution  was  passed  voting  assistance  to  the 
Thebans.  Thrasybulus,  in  an  answer  communicating  the  resolu- 
tion, pointed  out  with  pride  that  in  spite  of  the  unfortified  condi- 
tion of  Piraeus,  Athens  would  not  shrink  from  repaying  her  debt 
of  gratitude  to  Thebes  with  interest.  "You,"  he  added,  "  refused 
to  join  in  a  campaign  against  us  ;  we  are  prepared  to  fight  your 
battles  with  you  against  the  enemy,  if  he  attacks  you."  Thus  the 
Thebans  returned  home  and  made  preparations  to  defend  them- 
selves, whilst  the  Athenians  made  ready  to  assist  them. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  84 

Alliance  between  Bceotia  and  Athens,  p..c.  395-394 
The  Gods 

Alliance  of  the  Boeotians  and  Athenians  for  all  time. 

If  anyone  begins  war  against  the  Athenians  by  land  or  by  sea,  the 
Boeotians  are  to  help  them  to  the  best  of  their  ability  with  all  their 
might  just  as  the  Athenians  may  demand  ;  and  if  anyone  begins  war 
against  the  Boeotians  by  land  or  by  sea,  the  Athenians  are  to  help. 


482  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  IV,  ii,  15-22 

And  here  I  may  state  the  numbers  on  either  side.  The  Lace- 
daemonian heavy-armed  infantry  levies  amounted  to  six  thousand 
men.  Of  Eleians,  Triphylians,  Acroreians,  and  Lasionians,  there 
must  have  been  nearly  three  thousand,  with  fifteen  hundred  Sicy- 
onians,  while  Epidaurus,  Troezen,  Hermione, .  and  Halieis  con- 
tributed at  least  another  three  thousand.  To  these  heavy  infantry 
troops  must  be  added  six  hundred  Lacedaemonian  cavalry,  a  body 
of  Cretan  archers  about  three  hundred  strong,  besides  another 
force  of  slingers,  at  least  four  hundred  in  all,  consisting  of  Mar- 
ganians,  Letrinians,  and  Amphidolians.  The  men  of  Phlius  were 
not  represented.  Their  plea  was  they  were  keeping  "  holy  truce." 
That  was  the  total  of  the  forces  on  the  Lacedaemonian  side.  There 
were  collected  on  the  enemy's  side  six  thousand  Athenian  heavy 
infantry,  with  about,  as  was  stated,  seven  thousand  Argives,  and 
in  the  absence  of  the  men  of  Orchomenus  something  like  five 
thousand  Boeotians.  There  were  besides  three  thousand  Corin- 
thians, and  again  from  the  whole  of  Euboea  at  least  three  thousand. 
These  formed  the  heavy  infantry.  Of  cavalry  the  Boeotians,  again 
in  the  absence  of  the  Orchomenians,  furnished  eight  hundred,  the 
Athenians  six  hundred,  the  Chalcidians  of  Euboea  one  hundred, 
the  Opuntian  Locrians  fifty.  Their  light  troops,  including  those 
of  the  Corinthians,  were  more  numerous,  as  the  Ozolian  Locrians, 
the  Melians,  and  Acarnanians  helped  to  swell  their  numbers. 

Such  was  the  strength  of  the  two  armies.  The  Boeotians,  as 
long  as  they  occupied  the  left  wing,  showed  no  anxiety  to  join 
battle,  but  after  a  rearrangement  which  gave  them  the  right, 
placing  the  Athenians  opposite  to  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  them- 
selves opposite  the  Achaeans,  at  once,  we  are  told,  the  victims 
proved  favourable,  and  the  order  was  passed  along  the  lines  to 
prepare  for  immediate  action.  The  Boeotians,  in  the  first  place, 
abandoning  the  rule  of  sixteen  deep,  chose  to  give  their  division 
the  fullest  possible  depth,  and,  moreover,  kept  veering  more  and 
more  to  their  right,  with  the  intention  of  overlapping  their  oppo- 
nents' flank.  The  consequence  was  that  the  Athenians,  to  avoid 
being  absolutely  severed,  were  forced  to  follow  suit,  and  edged 
towards  the  right,  though  they  recognised  the  risk  they  ran  of 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES  4^^ 3 

having  their  flank  turned.  For  a  while  the  Lacedaemonians  had 
no  idea  of  the  advance  of  the  enemy,  owing  to  the  rough  nature 
of  the  ground,  but  the  notes  of  the  pasan  at  length  announced  to 
them  the  fact,  and  without  an  instant's  delay  the  answering  order 
"'  prepare  for  battle  "  ran  along  the  different  sections  of  their  army. 
As  soon  as  their  troops  were  drawn  up,  according  to  the  tactical 
disposition  of  the  various  generals  of  foreign  brigades,  the  order 
was  passed  to  "  follow  the  lead,"  and  then  the  Lacedaemonians  on 
their  side  also  began  edging  to  their  right,  and  eventually  stretched 
out  their  wing  so  far  that  only  six  out  of  the  ten  regimental  divi- 
sions of  the  Athenians  confronted  the  Lacedaemonians,  the  other 
four  finding  themselves  face  to  face  with  the  men  of  Tegea.  And 
now  when  they  were  less  than  a  furlong  apart,  the  Lacedaemonians 
sacrificed  in  customaiy  fashion  a  kid  to  the  huntress  goddess,  and 
advanced  upon  their  opponents,  wheeling  round  their  overlapping 
columns  to  outflank  his  left.  As  the  two  armies  closed,  the  allies 
of  Laceda?mon  were  as  a  rule  fairly  borne  down  by  their  opponents. 
The  men  of  Pellene  alone,  steadily  confronting  the  Thespiaeans, 
held  their  ground,  and  the  dead  of  either  side  strewed  the  position. 
As  to  the  Lacedaemonians  themselves  :  crushing  that  portion  of 
the  Athenian  troops  which  lay  immediately  in  front  of  them,  and 
at  the  same  time  encircling  them  with  their  overlapping  right,  they 
slew  man  after  man  of  them  ;  and,  absolutely  unscathed  themselves, 
their  unbroken  columns  continued  their  march,  and  so  passed  behind 
the  four  remaining  divisions  of  the  Athenians  before  these  latter 
had  returned  from  their  own  victorious  pursuit.  Whereby  the  four 
divisions  in  question  also  emerged  from  battle  intact,  except  for 
the  casualties  inflicted  by  the  Tegeans  in  the  first  clash  of  the 
engagement.  The  troops  next  encountered  by  the  Lacedaemonians 
were  the  Argives  retiring.  These  they  fell  foul  of,  and  the  senior 
polemarch  was  just  on  the  point  of  closing  with  them  "  breast  to 
breast  "  when  some  one,  it  is  said,  shouted,  "  Let  their  front  ranks 
pass."  This  was  done,  and  as  the  Argives  raced  past,  their  ene- 
mies thrust  at  their  unprotected  sides,  and  killed  many  of  them. 
The  Corinthians  were  caught  in  the  same  way  as  they  retired,  and 
when  their  turn  had  passed,  once  more  the  Lacedaemonians  lit 
upon  a  portion  of  the  Theban  division  retiring  from  the  pursuit, 


484  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

and  strewed  the  field  with  their  dead.  The  end  of  it  all  was  that 
the  defeated  troops  in  the  first  instance  made  for  safety  to  the 
walls  of  their  city,  but  the  Corinthians  within  closed  the  gates, 
whereupon  the  troops  took  up  quarters  once  again  in  their  old 
encampment.  The  Lacedaemonians  on  their  side  withdrew  to  the 
point  at  which  they  first  closed  with  the  enemy,  and  there  set  up 
a  trophy  of  victory.    So  the  battle  ended. 

In  the  oration  "For  Mantitheus"  the  young  soldier  testifies  that 
he  fought  in  the  battle  of  Corinth  in  the  front  rank  and  remained 
as  long  as  Thrasybulus  himself. 

Lysias,  XVI  {For  Mantitheus),  15 

And  after  this,  senators,  when  the  expedition  to  Corinth  took 
place  and  all  knew  that  there  would  be  danger,  while  the  others 
were  hesitating  I  managed  so  that  I  fought  against  the  enemy 
from  a  place  in  the  front  rank,  and  though  our  tribe  especially  was 
suffering  many  misfortunes,  most  of  them  falling  in  battle,  I  at 
least  retreated  after  this  fine  gentleman  of  Steiria,  who  has  been 
reproaching  all  the  world  with  cowardice. 

Two  inscriptions  are  still  to  be  seen  on  handsome  monuments 
in  the  Ceramicus,  or  State  Cemetery  of  Athens.  They  commem- 
orate those  who  fell  in  the  battles  of  Corinth  and  Coronea.  The 
second  is  on  the  famous  stele  with  the  beautiful  relief  of  the  young 
horseman,  Dexileus.^ 

Hicks  and  Hill,  87 

Battle  of  Corinth  and  Battle  of  Coronea  : 
July-August,  b.c.  394 

These  knights  fell  at  Corinth  :  Antiphanes,  phylarch,  Melesias, 
Onetorides,  Lysitheus,  Pandius,  Nicomachus,  Theangelus,  Phanes, 
Democles,  Dexileus,  Endelus. 

At  Coronea :  Neoclides. 

1  See  Pausanias,  I,  xxix,  11. 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES  485 

Hicks  and  Hill,  88 

Battle  of  Corinth,  b.c.  394 

Dexileus  son  of  Lysanias  of  Thoricus, 

Born  in  the  archonship  of  Tisander, 

Fell  at  Corinth  in  the  archonship  of  Eubulides, 

One  of  the  five  knights. 

4.  SELFISH   POLICY  OF  SPARTA;    HER  CLIMAX 

In  spite  of  her  unpopularity  Sparta  continued  to  be  so  success- 
ful in  war  that  she  quite  lost  her  head  and  entered  on  a  career  of 
mad  infatuation.  The  outrageous  treatment  of  the  Mantineans  and 
the  Thebans  shows  that  she  had  neither  restraint  nor  decency  left. 

This  policy  naturally  terrified  the  other  states,  who  became  so 
anxious  for  peace  that  they  submitted  to  the  humiliation  of  allowing 
the  Persian  king  to  dictate  the  terms. 

Sparta  had  now  reached  the  climax  of  her  power.  The  state- 
ment of  Xenophon  sounds  as  if  there  were  no  question  of  her 
further  success,  yet  within  a  few  years  she  succumbed  before  the 
power  of  Thebes. 

Xenophon,  Helle/iica,  V,  ii,  1-8 

B.C.  386.  Indeed  the  late  events  had  so  entirely  shaped  them- 
selves in  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  that 
they  determined  to  go  a  step  farther  and  chastise  those  of  their 
allies  who  either  had  borne  hard  on  them  during  the  w*ar,  or  other- 
wise had  shown  themselves  less  favourable  to  Lacedaemon  than  to 
her  enemies.  Chastisement  was  not  all ;  they  must  lay  down  such 
secure  foundations  for  the  future  as  should  render  the  like  disloyalty 
impossible  again.  As  the  first  step  towards  this  policy  they  sent 
a  dictatorial  message  to  the  Mantineans,  and  bade  them  raze  their 
fortifications,  on  the  sole  ground  that  they  could  not  otherwise  trust 
them  not  to  side  with  their  enemies.  Many  things  in  their  con- 
duct, they  alleged,  from  time  to  time,  had  not  escaped  their  notice : 
their  frequent  despatches  of  corn  to  the  Argives  while  at  war  with 
Lacedaemon  ;  at  other  times  their  refusal  to  furnish  contingents 


486  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

during  a  campaign,  on  the  pretext  of  some  holy  truce  or  other ;  or 
if  they  did  reluctantly  take  the  field  —  the  miserable  inefficiency  of 
their  service.  "  But,  more  than  that,"  they  added,  "  we  note  the 
jealousy  with  which  you  eye  any  good  fortune  which  may  betide 
our  state ;  the  extravagant  pleasure  you  exhibit  at  the  sudden  descent 
of  some  disaster." 

This  very  year,  moreover,  it  was  commonly  said,  saw  the  expira- 
tion, as  far  as  the  Mantineans  were  concerned,  of  the  thirty  years' 
truce,  consequent  upon  the  battle  of  Mantinea.  On  their  refusal, 
therefore,  to  raze  their  fortification  walls  the  ban  was  called  out 
against  them.  Agesilaus  begged  the  state  to  absolve  him  from  the 
conduct  of  this  war  on  the  plea  that  the  city  of  Mantinea  had  done 
frequent  service  to  his  father  in  his  Messenian  wars.  Accordingly 
Agesipolis  led  the  expedition  —  in  spite  of  the  cordial  relations  of 
his  father  Pausanias  with  the  leaders  of  the  popular  party  in 
Mantinea. 

B.C.  385.  The  first  move  of  the  invader  was  to  subject  the 
enemy's  territory  to  devastation  ;  but  failing  by  such  means  to  in- 
duce them  to  raze  their  walls,  he  proceeded  to  draw  lines  of  cir- 
cumvallation  round  the  city,  keeping  half  his  troops  under  arms  to 
screen  the  entrenching  parties  whilst  the  other  half  pushed  on  the 
work  with  the  spade.  As  soon  as  the  trench  was  completed,  he 
experienced  no  further  difficulty  in  building  a  wall  round  the  city. 
Aware,  however,  of  the  existence  of  a  large  supply  of  corn  inside 
the  town,  the  result  of  the  bountiful  harvest  of  the  preceding  year, 
and  averse  to  the  notion  of  wearing  out  the  city  of  Lacedaemon 
and  her  allies  by  tedious  campaigning,  he  hit  upon  the  expedient 
of  damming  up  the  river  which  flowed  through  the  town. 

It  was  a  stream  of  no  inconsiderable  size.  By  erecting  a  barrier 
at  its  exit  from  the  town  he  caused  the  water  to  rise  above  the  base- 
ments of  the  private  dwellings  and  the  foundations  of  the  fortifica- 
tion walls.  Then,  as  the  lower  layers  of  bricks  became  saturated 
and  refused  their  support  to  the  rows  above,  the  wall  began  to  crack 
and  soon  to  totter  to  its  fall.  The  citizens  for  some  time  tried  to 
prop  it  with  pieces  of  timber,  and  used  other  devices  to  avert  the 
imminent  ruin  of  their  tower  ;  but  finding  themselves  overmatched 
by  the  water,  and  in  dread  lest  the  fall  at  some  point  or  other  of 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES  4^"^/ 

the  circular  wall  might  deliver  them  captive  to  the  spear  of  the 
enemy,  they  signified  their  consent  to  raze  their  walls,  "But  the 
Lacedaemonians  now  steadily  refused  any  form  of  tmce,  except  on 
the  further  condition  that  the  Mantineans  would  suffer  themselves 
to  be  broken  up  and  distributed  into  villages.  They,  looking  the 
necessity  in  the  face,  consented  to  do  even  that.  The  sympathisers 
with  Argos  among  them,  and  the  leaders  of  their  democracy,  thought 
that  their  fate  was  sealed.  Then  the  father  treated  with  the  son, 
Pausanias  with  Agesipolis,  in  their  behalf,  and  obtained  immunity 
for  them  —  sixty  in  number  —  on  condition  that  they  should  quit 
the  city.  The  Lacedaemonian  troops  stood  lining  the  road  on  both 
sides,  beginning  from  the  gates,  and  watched  the  outgoers  ;  and 
with  their  spears  in  their  hands,  in  spite  of  bitter  hatred,  kept  aloof 
from  them  with  less  difficulty  than  the  Mantineans  of  the  better 
classes  themselves  —  a  weighty  testimony  to  the  power  of  Spartan 
discipline,  be  it  said,  Li  conclusion,  the  wall  was  razed,  and  Man- 
tinea  split  up  into  four  parts,  assuming  once  again  its  primitive 
condition  as  regards  inhabitants.  The  first  feeling  was  one  of 
annoyance  at  the  necessity  of  pulling  down  their  present  houses 
and  building  others,  yet  when  the  owners  found  themselves  located 
so  much  nearer  their  estates  round  about  the  villages,  in  the  full 
enjoyment  of  aristocracy,  and  rid  for  ever  of  "  those  troublesome 
demagogues,"  they  were  delighted  with  the  turn  which  affairs  had 
taken.  It  became  the  custom  for  Sparta  to  send  them  not  one 
commander  of  contingents,  but  four,  one  for  each  village  ;  and  the 
zeal  displayed,  now  that  the  quotas  for  military  service  were  fur- 
nished from  the  several  village  centres,  was  far  greater  than  it  had 
been  under  the  democratic  system.  So  the  transactions  in  connec- 
tion with  Mantinea  were  brought  to  a  conclusion,  and  thereby  one 
lesson  of  wisdom  was  taught  mankind  —  not  to  conduct  a  river 
through  a  fortress  town. 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  V,  ii,  28-37 

The  senate  was  seated  in  the  arcade  or  stoa  in  the  market-place, 
since  the  Cadmeia  was  in  possession  of  the  women  who  were  cele- 
brating the  Thesmophoria,  It  was  noon  of  a  hot  summer's  day  ; 
scarcely  a  soul  was  stirring  in  the  streets.    This  was  the  moment 


488  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

for  Leontiades.  He  mounted  on  horseback  and  galloped  off  to 
overtake  Phoebidas.  He  turned  him  back,  and  led  him  without 
further  delay  into  the  acropolis.  Having  posted  Phoebidas  and  his 
soldiers  inside,  he  handed  him  the  key  of  the  gates,  and  warning 
him  not  to  suffer  any  one  to  enter  into  the  citadel  without  a  pass 
from  himself,  he  straightway  betook  himself  to  the  senate.  Arrived 
there,  he  delivered  himself  thus  :  "  Sirs,  the  Lacedaemonians  are 
in  possession  of  the  citadel ;  but  that  is  no  cause  for  despondency, 
since,  as  they  assure  us,  they  have  no  hostile  intention,  except,  in- 
deed, towards  any  one  who  has  an  appetite  for  war.  For  myself, 
and  acting  in  obedience  to  the  law,  which  'empowers  the  polemarch 
to  apprehend  all  persons  suspected  of  capital  crimes,  I  hereby  seize 
the  person  of  Ismenias  as  an  arch-fomenter  of  war.  I  call  upon 
you,  sirs,  who  are  captains  of  companies,  and  you  who  are  ranked 
with  them,  to  do  your  duty.  Arise  and  secure  the  prisoner,  and 
lead  him  away  to  the  place  appointed," 

Those  who  were  privy  to  the  affair,  it  will  be  understood,  pre- 
sented themselves,  and  the  orders  were  promptly  carried  out.  Of 
those  not  in  the  secret,  but  opposed  to  the  party  of  Leontiades, 
some  sought  refuge  at  once  outside  the  city  in  terror  for  their  lives ; 
whilst  the  rest,  albeit  they  retired  to  their  houses  at  first,  yet  when 
they  found  that  Ismenias  was  imprisoned  in  the  Cadmeia,  and 
further  delay  seemed  dangerous,  retreated  to  Athens,  These  were 
the  men  who  shared  the  views  of  Androcleidas  and  Ismenias,  and 
they  must  have  numbered  about  three  hundred. 

Now  that  the  transactions  were  concluded,  another  polemarch 
was  chosen  in  place  of  Ismenias,  and  Leontiades  at  once  set  out 
to  Lacedaemon.  There  he  found  the  ephors  and  the  mass  of  the 
community  highly  incensed  against  Phoebidas,  "  who  had  failed  to 
execute  the  orders  assigned  him  by  the  state."  Against  this  gen- 
eral indignation,  however,  Agesilaus  protested.  If  mischief  had 
been  wrought  to  Lacedaemon  by  this  deed,  it  was  just  that  the  doer 
of  it  should  be  punished ;  but,  if  good,  it  was  a  time-honoured  cus- 
tom to  allow  full  scope  for  impromptu  acts  of  this  character,  "The 
sole  point  you  have  to  look  to,"  he  urged,  "  is  whether  what  has 
been   done   is  good   or  evil,"     After  this,  however,   Leontiades 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES  489 

presented  himself  to  the  assembly  and  addressed  the  members  as 
follows  :  "  Sirs,  Lacedaemonians,  the  hostile  attitude  of  Thebes 
towards  you,  before  the  occurrence  of  late  events,  was  a  topic  con- 
stantly on  your  lips,  since  time  upon  time  your  eyes  were  called 
upon  to  witness  her  friendly  bearing  to  your  foes  in  contrast  with 
her  hatred  of  your  friends.  Can  it  be  denied  that  Thebes  refused 
to  take  part  with  you  in  the  campaign  against  your  direst  enemy, 
the  democracy  in  Piraeus  ;  and  balanced  that  lukewarmness  by  an 
onslaught  on  the  Phocians,  whose  sole  crime  was  cordiality  to  your- 
selves ?  Nor  is  that  all.  In  full  knowledge  that  you  were  likely  to 
be  engaged  in  war  with  Olynthus,  she  proceeded  at  once  to  make 
an  alliance  with  that  city.  So  that  up  to  the  last  moment  you  were 
in  constant  expectation  of  hearing  some  day  that  the  whole  of 
Boeotia  was  laid  at  the  feet  of  Thebes.  With  the  late  incidents  all 
is  changed.  You  need  fear  Thebes  no  longer.  One  brief  despatch 
in  cipher  will  suffice  to  procure  a  dutiful  subservience  to  your  every 
wish  in  that  quarter,  provided  only  you  will  take  as  kindly  an 
interest  in  us  as  we  in  you." 

This  appeal  told  upon  the  meeting,  and  the  Lacedaemonians 
resolved  formally,  now  that  the  citadel  had  been  taken,  to  keep  it, 
and  to  put  Ismenias  on  his  trial.  In  consequence  of  this  resolution 
a  body  of  commissioners  was  despatched,  three  Lacedaemonians 
and  one  for  each  of  the  allied  states,  great  and  small  alike.  The 
court  of  inquir)^  thus  constituted,  the  sittings  commenced,  and  an 
indictment  was  preferred  against  Ismenias.  He  was  accused  of 
playing  into  the  hands  of  the  barbarian  ;  of  seeking  amity  with  the 
Persian  to  the  detriment  of  Hellas  ;  of  accepting  sums  of  money 
as  bribes  from  the  king ;  and,  finally,  of  being,  along  with  Andro- 
cleidas,  the  prime  cause  of  the  whole  intestine  trouble  to  which 
Hellas  was  a  prey.  Each  of  these  charges  was  met  by  the  defend- 
ant, but  to  no  purpose,  since  he  failed  to  disabuse  the  court  of  their 
conviction  that  the  grandeur  of  his  designs  was  only  equalled  by 
their  wickedness.  The  verdict  was  given  against  him,  and  he  was 
put  to  death.  The  party  of  Leontiades  thus  possessed  the  city ; 
and  went  beyond  the  injunctions  given  them  in  the  eager  perform- 
ance of  their  services. 


490  READINGS   IN   GREEK   HISTORY 

Xenophon,  Helleiiica,  V,  i,  28-36 

The  Athenians  could  not  but  watch  with  alarm  the  growth  of 
the  enemy's  fleet,  and  began  to  fear  a  repetition  of  their  former 
discomfiture.  To  be  trampled  under  foot  by  the  hostile  power 
seemed  indeed  no  remote  possibility,  now  that  the  Lacedaemonians 
had  procured  an  ally  in  the  person  of  the  Persian  monarch,  and 
they  were  in  little  less  than  a  state  of  siege  themselves,  pestered 
as  they  were  by  privateers  from  /Egina.  On  all  these  grounds  the 
Athenians  became  passionately  desirous  of  peace.  The  Lacedae- 
monians were  equally  out  of  humour  with  the  war  for  various  rea- 
sons —  what  with  their  garrison  duties,  one  mora  at  Lechaeum  and 
another  at  Orchomenus,  and  the  necessity  of  keeping  watch  and 
ward  on  the  states,  if  loyal  not  to  lose  them,  if  disaffected  to  pre- 
vent their  revolt ;  not  to  mention  that  reciprocity  of  annoyance  of 
which  Corinth  was  the  centre.  So  again  the  Argives  had  a  strong 
appetite  for  peace  ;  they  knew  that  the  ban  had  been  called  out 
against  them,  and,  it  was  plain,  that  no  fictitious  alteration  of  the 
calendar  would  any  longer  stand  them  in  good  stead.  Hence, 
when  Tiribazus  issued  a  summons  calling  on  all  who  were  willing 
to  listen  to  the  terms  of  peace  sent  down  by  the  king  to  present 
themselves,  the  invitation  was  promptly  accepted.  At  the  open- 
ing of  the  conclave  Tiribazus  pointed  to  the  king's  seal  attached 
to  the  document,  and  proceeded  to  read  the  contents,  which  ran 
as  follows: 

"The  king,  Artaxerxes,  deems  it  just  that  the  cities  in  Asia, 
with  the  islands  of  Clazomense  and  Cyprus,  should  belong  to  him- 
self ;  the  rest  of  the  Hellenic  cities  he  thinks  it  just  to  leave  inde- 
pendent, both  small  and  great,  with  the  exception  of  Lemnos, 
Imbros,  and  Scyros,  which  three  are  to  belong  to  Athens  as  of 
yore.  Should  any  of  the  parties  concerned  not  accept  this  peace, 
I,  Artaxerxes,  will  war  against  him  or  them  with  those  who  share 
my  views.  This  will  I  do  by  land  and  by  sea,  with  ships  and 
with  money." 

After  listening  to  the  above  declaration  the  ambassadors  from 
the  several  states  proceeded  to  report  the  same  to  their  respective 
governments.  One  and  all  of  these  took  the  oaths  to  ratify  and 
confirm  the  terms  unreservedly,  with  the  exception  of  the  Thebans, 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN   SUPREMACIES  491 

who  claimed  to  take  the  oaths  in  behalf  of  all  Boeotians.  This 
claim  Agesilaus  repudiated  :  unless  they  chose  to  take  the  oaths 
in  precise  conformity  with  the  words  of  the  king's  edict,  which  in- 
sisted on  "the  future  autonomy  of  each  state,  small  or  great,"  he 
would  not  admit  them.  To  this  the  Theban  ambassadors  made  no 
other  reply,  except  that  the  instructions  they  had  received  were 
different.  "  Pray  go,  then,"  Agesilaus  retorted,  "and  ask  the  ques- 
tion ;  and  }'0U  may  inform  your  countrymen  that  if  they  will  not 
comply,  they  will  be  excluded  from  the  treaty."  The  Theban  am- 
bassadors departed,  but  Agesilaus,  out  of  hatred  to  the  Thebans, 
took  active  measures  at  once.  Having  got  the  consent  of  the  eph- 
ors  he  forthwith  offered  sacrifice.  The  offerings  for  crossing  the 
frontier  were  propitious,  and  he  pushed  on  to  Tegea.  From  Tegea 
he  despatched  some  of  the  knights  right  and  left  to  visit  the  peri- 
ceci  and  hasten  their  mobilisation,  and  at  the  same  time  sent  com- 
manders of  foreign  brigades  to  the  allied  cities  on  a  similar  errand. 
But  before  he  had  started  from  Tegea  the  answer  from  Thebes 
arrived ;  the  point  was  yielded,  they  would  suffer  the  states  to  be 
independent.  Under  these  circumstances  the  Lacedaemonians  re- 
turned home,  and  the  Thebans  were  forced  to  accept  the  truce 
unconditionally,  and  to  recognise  the  autonomy  of  the  Boeotian 
cities.  But  now  the  Corinthians  were  by  no  means  disposed  to 
part  with  the  garrison  of  the  Argives.  Accordingly  Agesilaus  had 
a  word  of  warning  for  both.  To  the  former  he  said,  "  if  they  did 
not  forthwith  dismiss  the  Argives,"  and  to  the  latter  "  if  they  did 
not  instantly  quit  Corinth,"  he  would  march  an  army  into  their 
territories.  The  terror  of  both  was  so  great  that  the  Argives 
marched  out  of  Corinth,  and  Corinth  was  once  again  left  to  her- 
self ;  whereupon  the  "butchers"  and  their  accomplices  in  the  deed 
of  blood  determined  to  retire  from  Corinth,  and  the  rest  of  the 
citizens  welcomed  back  their  late  exiles  voluntarily. 

Xenophon,  HeIIe7iica,  V,  iii,  26 

On  every  side  the  affairs  of  Lacedaemon  had  signally  prospered : 
—  Thebes  and  the  rest  of  the  Boeotian  states  lay  absolutely  at  her 
feet ;  Corinth  had  become  her  most  faithful  ally  ;  Argos,  unable 
longer  to  avail  herself  of  the  subterfuge  of  a  movable  calendar,  was 


492  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

humbled  to  the  dust ;  Athens  was  isolated  ;  and,  lastly,  those  of 
her  own  allies  who  displayed  a  hostile  feeling  towards  her  had  been 
punished  ;  so  that,  to  all  outward  appearance,  the  foundations  of 
her  empire  were  at  length  absolutely  well  and  firmly  laid. 

II,   The  Rise  of  Thebes 

Thebes  now  took  the  lead  in  affairs.  The  treaty  with  Athens, 
which  both  had  thought  would  prove  so  advantageous,  had  only 
temporarily  checked  the  fundamental  unfriendliness  of  these  states. 
Moreover,  the  way  in  which  Thebes  treated  some  of  Athens's  allies 
in  Bceotia  made  Athens  anxious  for  peace  to  be  declared  and  some 
agreement  to  be  entered  into  with  Sparta.  Thebes  was  the  only 
state  which  refused  to  sign. 

1.  PEACE  OF  B.C.  371 
Xenophon,  Hellenica,  VI,  iii,  17-20 

The  arguments  of  the  speakers  were  approved,  and  the  Lacedae- 
monians passed  a  resolution  to  accept  peace  on  a  threefold  basis  : 
the  withdrawal  of  the  governors  from  the  cities,  the  disbanding  of 
armaments  naval  and  military,  and  the  guarantee  of  independence 
to  the  states.  "  If  any  state  transgressed  these  stipulations,  it  lay 
at  the  option  of  any  power  whatsoever  to  aid  the  states  so  injured, 
while,  conversely,  to  bring  such  aid  was  not  compulsory  on  any 
power  against  its  will."  On  these  terms  the  oaths  were  adminis- 
tered and  accepted  by  the  Lacedaemonians  on  behalf  of  themselves 
and  their  allies,  and  by  the  Athenians  and  their  allies  separately 
state  by  state.  The  Thebans  had  entered  their  individual  name 
among  the  states  which  accepted  the  oaths,  but  their  ambassadors 
came  the  next  day  with  instructions  to  alter  the  name  of  the  signa- 
tories, substituting  for  Thebans  Boeotians.  But  Agesilaus  answered 
to  this  demand  that  he  would  alter  nothing  of  what  they  had  in  the 
first  instance  sworn  to  and  subscribed.  If  they  did  not  wish  to  be 
included  in  the  treaty,  he  was  willing  to  erase  their  name  at  their 
bidding.  So  it  came  to  pass  that  the  rest  of  the  world  made  peace, 
the  sole  point  of  dispute  being  confined  to  the  Thebans  ;  and  the 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES  493 

Athenians  came  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  a  fair  prospect 
of  the  Thebans  being  now  literally  decimated.  As  to  the  Thebans 
themselves,  they  retired  from  Sparta  in  utter  despondency. 


2.  LEUCTRA  AND  ITS  CONSEQUENCES 

Xenophon,  Helleiiica,  VI,  iv,  8-16 

Both  sides  were  now  arming,  and  there  were  the  unmistakable 
signs  of  approaching  battle,  when,  as  the  first  incident,  there  issued 
from  the  Boeotian  lines  a  long  train  bent  on  departure  —  these 
were  the  furnishers  of  the  market,  a  detachment  of  baggage  bear- 
ers, and  in  general  such  people  as  had  no  inclination  to  join  in  the 
fight.  These  were  met  on  their  retreat  and  attacked  by  the  mer- 
cenary troops  under  Hiero,  who  got  round  them  by  a  circular 
movement.  The  mercenaries  were  supported  by  the  Phocian  light 
infantry  and  some  squadrons  of  Heracleot  and  Phliasian  cavalry, 
who  fell  upon  the  retiring  train  and  turned  them  back,  pursuing 
them  and  driving  them  into  the  camp  of  the  Boeotians.  The  imme- 
diate effect  was  to  make  the  Boeotian  portion  of  the  army  more 
numerous  and  closer  packed  than  before.  The  next  feature  of  the 
combat  was  that  in  consequence  of  the  flat  space  of  plain  between 
the  opposing  armies,  the  Lacedaemonians  posted  their  cavalry  in 
front  of  their  squares  of  infantry,  and  the  Thebans  followed  suit. 
Only  there  was  this  difference,  —  the  Theban  cavalr}^  was  in  a 
high  state  of  training  and  efficiency,  owing  to  their  war  with  the 
Orchomenians  and  again  their  war  with  Thespiae,  whilst  the  cavalry 
of  the  Lacedaemonians  was  at  its  worst  at  this  period.  The  horses 
were  reared  and  kept  by  the  wealthiest  members  of  the  state  ;  but 
whenever  the  ban  was  called  out,  an  appointed  trooper  appeared 
who  took  the  horse  with  any  sort  of  arms  which  might  be  pre- 
sented to  him,  and  set  off  on  the  expedition  at  a  moment's  notice. 
Moreover,  these  troopers  were  the  least  able-bodied  of  the  men  : 
raw  recruits  set  simply  astride  their  horses,  and  devoid  of  soldierly 
ambition.    Such  was  the  cavalry  of  either  antagonist. 

The  heavy  infantry  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  it  is  said,  advanced 
by  sections  three  files  abreast,  allowing  a  total  depth  to  the  whole 
line  of  not  more  than  twelve.    The  Thebans  were  formed  in  close 


494  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

order  of  not  less  than  fifty  shields  deep,  calculating  that  victory 
gained  over  the  king's  division  of  the  army  implied  the  easy 
conquest  of  the  rest. 

Cleombrotus  had  hardly  begun  to  lead  his  division  against  the 
foe  when,  before  in  fact  the  troops  with  him  were  aware  of  his 
advance,  the  cavalry  had  already  come  into  collision,  and  that  of 
the  Lacedaemonians  was  speedily  worsted.  In  their  flight  they  be- 
came involved  with  their  own  heavy  infantry  ;  and  to  make  matters 
worse,  the  Theban  regiments  were  already  attacking  vigorously. 
Still  strong  evidence  exists  for  supposing  that  Cleombrotus  and 
his  division  were,  in  the  first  instance,  victorious  in  the  battle,  if 
we  consider  the  fact  that  they  could  never  have  picked  him  up  and 
brought  him  back  alive  unless  his  vanguard  had  been  masters  of 
the  situation  for  the  moment. 

When,  however,  Deinon  the  polemarch  and  Sphodrias,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  king's  council,  with  his  son  Cleonymus,  had  fallen,  then 
it  was  that  the  cavalry  and  the  polemarch 's  adjutants,  as  they  are 
called,  with  the  rest,  under  pressure  of  the  mass  against  them, 
began  retreating  ;  and  the  left  wing  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  seeing 
the  right  borne  down  in  this  way,  also  swerved.  Still,  in  spite  of 
the  numbers  slain,  and  broken  as  they  were,  as  soon  as  they  had 
crossed  the  trench  which  protected  their  camp  in  front,  they 
grounded  arms  on  the  spot  whence  they  had  rushed  to  battle. 
This  camp,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  did  not  lie  at  all  on  the  level, 
but  was  pitched  on  a  somewhat  steep  incline.  At  this  juncture 
there  were  some  of  the  Lacedaemonians  who,  looking  upon  such  a 
disaster  as  intolerable,  maintained  that  they  ought  to  prevent  the 
enemy  from  erecting  a  trophy,  and  try  to  recover  the  dead  not 
under  a  flag  of  truce  but  by  another  battle.  The  polemarchs,  how- 
ever, seeing  that  nearly  a  thousand  men  of  the  total  Lacedaemonian 
troops  were  slain  ;  seeing  also  that  of  the  seven  hundred  Spartans 
themselves  who  were  on  the  field  something  like  four  hundred  lay 
dead ;  aware,  further,  of  the  despondency  which  reigned  among 
the  allies,  and  the  general  disinclination  on  their  parts  to  fight 
longer  (a  frame  of  mind  not  far  removed  in  some  instances  from 
positive  satisfaction  at  what  had  taken  place)  —  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, I  say,  the  polemarchs  called  a  council  of  the  ablest 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN   SUPREMACIES  495 

representatives  of  the  shattered  army  and  deUberated  as  to  what 
should  be  done.  Finally  the  unanimous  opinion  was  to  pick  up 
the  dead  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  they  sent  a  herald  to  treat 
for  terms.  The  Thebans  after  that  set  up  a  trophy  and  gave  back 
the  bodies  under  a  truce. 

After  these  events,  a  messenger  was  despatched  to  Lacedaemon 
with  news  of  the  calamity.  He  reached  his  destination  on  the  last 
day  of  the  g}'mnopaediae,  just  when  the  chorus  of  grown  men  had 
entered  the  theatre.  The  ephors  heard  the  mournful  tidings  not 
without  grief  and  pain,  as  needs  they  must,  I  take  it ;  but  for  all 
that  they  did  not  dismiss  the  chorus,  but  allowed  the  contest  to  run 
out  its  natural  course.  What  they  did  was  to  deliver  the  names  of 
those  who  had  fallen  to  their  friends  and  families,  with  a  word  of 
warning  to  the  women  not  to  make  any  loud  lamentation  but  to 
bear  their  sorrow  in  silence ;  and  the  next  day  it  was  a  striking 
spectacle  to  see  those  who  had  relations  among  the  slain  moving 
to  and  fro  in  public  with  bright  and  radiant  looks,  whilst  of  those 
whose  friends  were  reported  to  be  living  barely  a  man  was  to  be 
seen,  and  these  flitted  by  with  lowered  heads  and  scowling  brows, 
as  if  in  humiliation. 

3.  FOUNDING  OF  MEGALOPOLIS  AND   MESSENE 

Thebes  now  adopted  an  aggressive  policy.  She  founded  two 
cities  in  the  Peloponnesus,  both  of  which  were  to  be  a  menace  to 
the  Spartans,  —  Megalopolis  in  Arcadia  and  Messene  in  the  district 
of  the  same  name. 

Megalopolis  was  an  experiment,  since  it  was  most  uncommon  to 
gather  the  people  of  a  district  into  a  large  new  city  founded  for 
the  express  purpose  of  defense  or  of  aggression. 

Pausa7iias,  VIII,  xxvii,  1-3 

Megalopolis  is  the  newest  city  not  only  in  Arcadia,  but  in  Greece, 
if  we  except  the  case  of  cities  whose  inhabitants,  under  the  Roman 
Empire,  have  chanced  to  be  transferred  to  new  sites.  The  Arca- 
dians gathered  into  Megalopolis  for  the  sake  of  security  ;  for  they 
knew  that  the  Argives  of  old  had  stood  in  almost  daily  danger  of 


496  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

being  conquered  by  the  Lacedaemonians,  but  that  after  they  had 
swelled  the  population  of  Argos  by  destroying  Tiryns,  Hysiae, 
Orneae,  Mycenae,  Midea,  and  the  other  petty  towns  of  Argolis, 
they  had  had  less  to  fear  from  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  had  at 
the  same  time  gained  a  firmer  hold  over  the  outlying  subject  popu- 
lation. Such  were  the  views  with  which  the  Arcadians  united  in 
a  single  city.  Of  that  city  Epaminondas,  the  Theban,  may  justly 
be  called  the  founder ;  for  he  it  was  who  collected  the  Arcadians 
to  found  the  united  city,  and  sent  a  thousand  picked  Thebans  under 
Pammenes  to  stand  by  the  Arcadians  in  case  the  Lacedaemonians 
should  attempt  to  hinder  the  founding  of  the  city.  The  Arcadians 
also  chose  as  founders  Timon  and  Proxenus,  both  from  Tegea  ; 
Lycomedes  and  Hopoleas  from  Mantinea ;  Cleolaus  and  Acriphius 
from  Clitor;  Eucampidas  and  Hieronymus  from  Maenalus;  and  two 
Parrhasians,  Possicrates,  and  Theoxenus. 

Pausanias,  VIII,  xxvii,  6-10 

Megalopolis  was  founded  in  the  year  in  which  the  defeat  of  the 
Lacedaemonians  took  place  at  Leuctra,  a  few  months  after  the  battle, 
in  the  archonship  of  Phrasiclides  at  Athens,  in  the  second  year  of 
the  hundred  and  second  Olympiad,  in  which  Damon,  a  Thurian, 
won  the  foot-race.  Enrolled  among  the  allies  of  Thebes,  the  Meg- 
alopolitans  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Lacedaemonians.  But 
when  the  Thebans  became  involved  in  the  war  known  as  the  Sacred 
War,  and  were  hard  put  to  it  by  the  Phocians,  whose  territory  ad- 
joins Boeotia,  and  who  were  well  supplied  with  money,  seeing  they 
had  laid  hands  on  the  Delphic  sanctuary,  then,  to  be  sure,  the  Lace- 
daemonians would  have  turned  all  the  Arcadians,  and  especially  the 
Megalopolitans,  out  of  house  and  home,  if  wishing  could  have  done 
it.  However,  as  the  Arcadians  defended  themselves  with  courage, 
and  their  neighbours  staunchly  supported  them,  neither  side  effected 
anything  worth  speaking  of.  But  the  hatred  that  the  Arcadians 
bore  to  the  Lacedaemonians  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  growth 
of  the  power  of  Philip,  son  of  Amyntas,  and  to  the  spread  of  the 
Macedonian  Empire;  and  the  Arcadians  did  not  stand  side  by 
side  with  the  Greeks  at  Chaeronea  nor  again  on  the  battlefield 
in  Thessaly. 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN   SUPREMACIES  497 

Having  collected  the  Arcadians  into  a  great  capital  city,  the 
Thebans  proceeded  to  do  the  same  for  the  Messenians,  who  were 
scattered  over  the  Greek  world. 

Pausannis,  IV,  xxvi,  5-8 

So  after  their  victory  at  Leuctra  the  Thebans  sent  messengers 
to  Italy,  Sicily,  and  the  Euesperit^e,  inviting  all  Messenians  in  any 
part  of  the  world  whither  they  had  strayed  to  return  to  Peloponnese. 
They  assembled  faster  than  could  have  been  expected,  for  they 
yearned  towards  the  land  of  their  fathers,  and  hatred  of  Sparta  still 
rankled  in  their  breasts.  But  to  Epaminondas  it  did  not  seem  easy 
to  found  a  city  that  would  be  a  match  for  Lacedaemon  ;  and  where 
to  build  it  he  could  not  think ;  for  the  Messenians  refused  to  settle 
again  in  Andania  and  Oechalia,  the  scenes  of  their  calamities  in 
days  gone  by.  In  his  perplexity  they  say  that  an  old  man,  much 
like  a  high  priest  of  the  mysteries,  stood  by  him  in  the  night  and 
said,  "  On  thee  I  bestow  power  to  conquer  whomsoever  thou  mayest 
turn  thine  arms  against ;  and  if  thou  art  taken  from  the  world,  I 
will  look  to  it,  O  Theban,  that  thou  art  neither  nameless  nor  in- 
glorious. But  do  thou  give  back  to  the  Messenians  their  fatherland 
and  their  cities,  for  the  wrath  of  the  Dioscuri  against  them  is  at 
an  end."  So  spake  the  vision  to  Epaminondas  ;  and  it  made  the 
following  revelation  to  Epiteles,  son  of  Aeschines,  who  had  been 
elected  general  by  the  Argives  and  charged  to  found  Messene  anew. 
The  dream  commanded  him,  wherever  he  found  a  yew-tree  and  a 
myrtle  growing  on  Mount  Ithome,  to  dig  up  the  ground  between 
them  and  save  the  old  woman,  for  she  was  worn  out  and  fainting 
by  reason  of  her  long  confinement  in  the  bronze  chamber.  When 
day  dawned  Epiteles  went  to  the  spot  indicated,  dug,  and  found 
a  bronze  urn.  Straightway  he  took  it  to  Epaminondas,  told  the 
dream,  and  bade  him  take  off  the  lid  and  see  what  was  in  it.  After 
sacrificing  and  praying  to  the  dream,  Epaminondas  opened  the  urn 
and  found  a  very  thin  sheet  of  tin  rolled  up  like  a  scroll.  On  it 
the  mysteries  of  the  Great  Goddesses  were  engraved,  and  this  it 
was  that  had  been  deposited  by  Aristomenes.  They  say  that  the  man 
who  appeared  to  Epiteles  and  Epaminondas  in  sleep  was  Caucon, 
who  came  from  Athens  to  Messene,  daughter  of  Triopas,  at  Andania. 


498  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Pausaiiias,  IV,  xxvii,  5-9 

To  Epaminondas  the  site  on  which  the  city  of  Messene  now 
stands  appeared  the  most  suitable,  and  he  accordingly  desired  the 
seers  to  inquire  whether  the  gods  would  be  willing  to  take  up  their 
abode  there.  Being  informed  by  them  that  the  omens  were  pro- 
pitious he  prepared  to  found  the  city.  He  ordered  stones  to  be 
brought,  and  he  sent  for  men  who  were  skilled,  in  laying  out 
streets,  building  houses  and  sanctuaries,  and  erecting  city  walls. 
When  all  was  ready,  the  victims  being  furnished  by  the  Arcadians, 
Epaminondas  and  the  Thebans  sacrificed  to  Dionysus  and  Isme- 
nian  Apollo  in  the  customary  way  ;  the  Argives  sacrificed  to  Argive 
Hera  and  Nemean  Zeus  ;  and  the  Messenians  sacrificed  to  Zeus 
of  Ithome  and  to  the  Dioscuri,  while  their  priests  sacrificed  to  the 
Great  Goddesses  and  Caucon.  They  also  joined  in  calling  upon 
the  heroes  to  come  and  dwell  with  them,  chiefly  Messene,  daughter 
of  Triopas,  and  next  to  her  Eurytus  and  Aphareus  and  his  children, 
and  of  the  Heraclids  they  invited  Cresphontes  and  Aepytus  ;  but 
loudest  of  all  was  the  cry  for  Aristomenes,  and  the  whole  people 
joined  in  it.  Thus  the  day  was  spent  in  sacrifice  and  prayer.  But 
on  the  following  days  they  proceeded  to  rear  the  circuit  wall,  and 
to  build  houses  and  sanctuaries  within  it.  They  worked  to  the 
music  of  Boeotian  and  Argive  flutes  alone  ;  and  keen  was  the  com- 
petition between  the  melodies  of  Sacadas  and  Pronomus.  To  the 
capital  they  gave  the  name  of  Messene,  but  they  founded  other 
towns  also.  The  Nauplians  were  not  expelled  from  Mothone,  and 
the  Asinaeans  were  also  suffered  to  remain  where  they  were,  the 
Messenians  remembering  the  former  kindness  of  the  Asinaeans 
in  refusing  to  fight  on  the  Lacedaemonian  side  against  Messenia. 
When  the  Messenians  were  returning  to  Peloponnese,  the  Nauplians 
brought  them  such  gifts  as  they  had  to  offer  ;  and  while  they  put  up 
ceaseless  prayers  to  God  for  the  restoration  of  the  Messenians,  they 
at  the  same  time  besought  the  Messenians  to  leave  them  in  peace. 

The  Messenians  returned  to  Peloponnese  and  recovered  their 
country  two  hundred  and  ninety-seven  years  after  the  capture  of 
Ira,  when  Dyscinetus  was  archon  at  Athens,  in  the  third  year  of 
the  hundred  and  second  Olympiad,  in  which  Damon  of  Thurii 
was  victorious  for  the  second  time. 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES  499 

Pausafiias,  IV,  xxvii,  1 1 

But  the  Messenians  wandered  for  nearly  three  hundred  years 
far  from  Peloponnese,  and  in  all  that  time  they  are  known  to  have 
dropped  none  of  their  native  customs,  nor  did  they  unlearn  their 
Doric  tongue  ;  indeed,  they  speak  it  to  this  day  with  greater  purity 
than  any  other  of  the  Peloponnesians. 

Pausanias,  IV,  xxviii,  1-3 

After  their  return  the  Messenians  had  at  first  nothing  to  fear 
from  the  Lacedaemonians,  who,  restrained  by  dread  of  the  Thebans, 
submitted  to  the  foundation  of  Messene  and  to  the  union, of  the 
Arcadians  in  a  single  city.  But  when  the  Thebans  were  diverted 
from  Peloponnese  by  the  Phocian  or  Sacred  War,  the  Lacedaemo- 
nians plucked  up  courage,  and  could  no  longer  keep  their  hands 
off  the  Messenians.  The  latter,  backed  by  the  Argives  and  Arca- 
dians, maintained  the  struggle,  and  called  on  the  Athenians  to  help 
them.  The  Athenians  replied  that  they  would  never  join  the  Mes- 
senians in  invading  Laconia,  but  if  the  Lacedc^monians  began  the 
war  and  marched  against  Messenia,  the  Athenians  promised  to  stand 
by  the  Messenians.  At  last  the  Messenians  formed  an  alliance  with 
Philip,  son  of  Amyntas,  and  the  Macedonians  ;  and  they  say  it  was 
this  which  prevented  them  from  taking  part  in  the  battle  of  Chaeronea. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  they  would  not  draw  sword  against  Greece. 
When  after  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Greeks  took  up  arms 
against  Macedonia  for  the  second  time,  the  Messenians  shared  in 
the  war,  as  I  showed  in  my  description  of  Attica.  They  did  not,  how- 
ever, join  with  the  Greeks  in  fighting  the  Gauls,  because  Cleonymus 
and  the  Lacedaemonians  declined  to  conclude  a  truce  with  them. 

4.   THE   BATTLE  OF  MANTINEA 

Thebes  had  invaded  Peloponnesus  in  more  warlike  guise  than 
that  of  founder  of  cities.  Epaminondas,  to  whom  Thebes  owed 
everything,  decided  that  a  battle  must  be  forced  on. 

The  victory  was  claimed  by  both  sides.  The  Thebans  had  been 
faring  better  than  the  Spartans,  but  the  death  of  Epaminondas  left 
them  without  a  great  leader,  and  Sparta  claimed  a  victory  as  well. 


500  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Xenophon,  Hellenica,  VII,  v,  17-27 

The  thoughts  now  working  in  the  mind  of  Epaminondas  were 
such  as  these  :  that  within  a  few  days  he  would  be  forced  to  retire, 
as  the  period  of  the  campaign  was  drawing  to  a  close  ;  if  it  ended 
in  his  leaving  in  the  lurch  those  allies  whom  he  came  out  to  assist, 
they  would  be  besieged  by  their  antagonists.  What  a  blow  would 
that  be  to  his  own  fair  fame,  already  somewhat  tarnished  !  Had 
he  not  been  defeated  in  Lacedasmon,  with  a  large  body  of  heavy 
infantry,  by  a  handful  of  men  ?  defeated  again  at  Mantinea,  in  the 
cavalry  engagement,  and  himself  the  main  cause  finally  of  a  coali- 
tion between  five  great  powers  —  that  is  to  say,  the  Lacedaemo- 
nians, the  Arcadians,  the  Achasans,  the  Eleians,  and  the  Athenians  ? 
On  all  grounds  it  seemed  to  him  impossible  to  steal  past  without 
a  battle.  And  the  more  so  as  he  computed  the  alternatives  of  vic- 
tory or  death.  If  the  former  were  his  fortune,  it  would  resolve  all 
his  perplexities  ;  if  death,  his  end  would  be  noble.  How  glorious 
a  thing  to  die  in  the  endeavour  to  leave  behind  him,  as  his  last 
legacy  to  his  fatherland,  the  empire  of  Peloponnesus !  That  such 
thoughts  should  pass  through  his  brain  strikes  me  as  by  no  means 
wonderful,  since  these  are  thoughts  distinctive  of  all  men  of  high 
ambition.  Far  more  wonderful  to  my  mind  was  the  pitch  of  per- 
fection to  which  he  had  brought  his  army.  There  was  no  labour 
which  his  troops  would  shrink  from,  either  by  night  or  by  day ; 
there  was  no  danger  they  would  flinch  from  ;  and,  with  the  scant- 
iest provisions,  their  discipline  never  failed  them. 

And  so,  when  he  gave  his  last  orders  to  them  to  prepare  for 
impending  battle,  they  obeyed  with  alacrity.  He  gave  the  word ; 
the  cavalry  fell  to  whitening  their  helmets,  the  heavy  infantry  of 
the  Arcadians  began  inscribing  clubs  as  the  crest  on  their  shield, 
as  though  they  were  Thebans,  and  all  were  engaged  in  sharpening 
their  lances  and  swords  and  polishing  their  heavy  shields.  When 
the  preparations  were  complete  and  he  had  led  them  out,  his  next 
movement  is  worthy  of  attention.  First,  as  was  natural,  he  paid  heed 
to  their  formation,  and  in  so  doing  seemed  to  give  clear  evidence 
that  he  intended  battle  ;  but  no  sooner  was  the  army  drawn  up  in 
the  formation  which  he  preferred,  than  he  advanced,  not  by  the 
shortest  route  to  meet  the  enemy,  but  towards  the  westward-lying 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN   SUPREMACIES  501 

mountains  which  face  Tegea,  and  by  this  movement  created  in  the 
enemy  an  expectation  that  he  would  not  do  battle  on  that  day.  In 
keeping  with  this  expectation,  as  soon  as  he  arrived  at  the  mountain- 
region,  he  extended  his  phalanx  in  long  line  and  piled  arms  under 
the  high  cliffs  ;  and  to  all  appearance  he  was  there  encamping. 
The  effect  of  this  manoeuvre  on  the  enemy  in  general  was  to  relax 
the  prepared  bent  of  their  souls  for  battle,  and  to  weaken  their 
tactical  arrangements.  Presently,  however,  wheeling  his  regiments 
(which  were  marching  in  column)  to  the  front,  with  the  effect  of 
strengthening  the  beak-like  attack  which  he  proposed  to  lead 
himself,  at  the  same  instant  he  gave  the  order,  "  Shoulder  arms, 
forward,"  and  led  the  way,  the  troops  following. 

When  the  enemy  saw  them  so  unexpectedly  approaching,  not 
one  of  them  was  able  to  maintain  tranquillity  :  some  began  run- 
ning to  their  divisions,  some  fell  into  line,  some  might  be  seen 
bitting  and  bridling  their  horses,  some  donning  their  cuirasses, 
and  one  and  all  were  like  men  about  to  receive  rather  than  to 
inflict  a  blow.  He,  the  while,  with  steady  impetus  pushed  forward 
his  armament,  like  a  ship-of-war  prow  forward.  Wherever  he 
brought  his  solid  wedge  to  bear,  he  meant  to  cleave  through  the 
opposing  mass,  and  crumble  his  adversary's  host  to  pieces.  With 
this  design  he  prepared  to  throw  the  brunt  of  the  fighting  on  the 
strongest  half  of  his  army,  while  he  kept  the  weaker  portion  of  it 
in  the  background,  knowing  certainly  that  if  worsted  it  would  only 
cause  discouragement  to  his  own  division  and  add  force  to  the  foe. 
The  cavalry  on  the  side  of  his  opponents  were  disposed  like  an 
ordinary  phalanx  of  heavy  infantry,  regular  in  depth  and  unsup- 
ported by  foot-soldiers  interspersed  among  the  horses.  Epaminon- 
das  again  differed  in  strengthening  the  attacking  point  of  his 
cavalry,  besides  which  he  interspersed  footmen  between  their  lines 
in  the  belief  that,  when  he  had  once  cut  through  the  cavalry,  he 
would  have  wrested  victory  from  the  antagonist  along  his  whole 
line  ;  so  hard  is  it  to  find  troops  who  will  care  to  keep  their  ground 
when  once  they  see  any  of  their  own  side  flying.  Lastly,  to  prevent 
any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Athenians,  who  were  on  the  enemy's 
left  wing,  to  bring  up  their  reliefs  in  support  of  the  portion  next 
them,  he  posted  bodies  of  cavalry  and  heavy  infantry  on  certain 


502  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

hillocks  in  front  of  them,  intending  to  create  in  their  minds  an 
apprehension  that,  in  case  they  offered  such  assistance,  they  would 
be  attacked  on  their  own  rear  by  these  detachments.  Such  was 
the  plan  of  encounter  which  he  formed  and  executed  ;  nor  was  he 
cheated  in  his  hopes.  He  had  so  much  the  mastery  at  his  point 
of  attack  that  he  caused  the  whole  of  the  enemy's  troops  to  take 
to  flight. 

But  after  he  himself  had  fallen,  the  rest  of  the  Thebans  were 
not  able  any  longer  to  turn  their  victory  rightly  to  account.  Though 
the  main  battle  line  of  their  opponents  had  given  way,  not  a  single 
man  afterwards  did  the  victorious  hoplites  slay,  not  an  inch  forward 
did  they  advance  from  the  ground  on  which  the  collision  took 
place.  Though  the  cavalry  had  fled  before  them,  there  was  no 
pursuit ;  not  a  man,  horseman  or  hoplite,  did  the  conquering 
cavalry  cut  down  ;  but,  like  men  who  have  suffered  a  defeat,  as 
if  panic-stricken  they  slipped  back  through  the  ranks  of  the  flee- 
ing foemen.  Only  the  footmen  fighting  amongst  the  cavalry  and 
the  light  infantry,  who  had  together  shared  in  the  victory  of  the 
cavalry,  found  their  way  round  to  the  left  wing  as  masters  of  the 
field,  but  it  cost  them  dear  ;  here  they  encountered  the  Athenians, 
and  most  of  them  were  cut  down. 

The  effective  result  of  these  achievements  was  the  very  opposite 
of  that  which  the  world  at  large  anticipated.  Here,  where  well- 
nigh  the  whole  of  Hellas  was  met  together  in  one  field,  and  the 
combatants  stood  rank  against  rank  confronted,  there  was  no  one 
who  doubted  that,  in  the  event  of  battle,  the  conquerors  this  day 
would  rule  ;  and  that  those  who  lost  would  be  their  subjects.  But 
God  so  ordered  it  that  both  belligerents  alike  set  up  trophies  as 
claiming  victory,  and  neither  interfered  with  the  other  in  the  act. 
Both  parties  alike  gave  back  their  enemy's  dead  under  a  truce, 
and  in  right  of  victory ;  both  alike,  in  symbol  of  defeat,  under  a 
truce  took  back  their  dead.  And  though  both  claimed  to  have 
won  the  day,  neither  could  show  that  he  had  thereby  gained  any 
accession  of  territory,  or  state,  or  empire,  or  v;as  better  situated 
than  before  the  battle.  Uncertainty  and  confusion,  indeed,  had 
gained  ground,  being  tenfold  greater  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  Hellas  after  the  battle  than  before. 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMACIES  503 

The  alliance  of  Athens  with  several  other  states  may  have  been 
entered  into  before  or  after  the  battle  of  Mantinea.  A  good  part 
of  the  text  of  the  treaty  survives. 

Hicks  and  HiH,  119 

Alliance  of  Five  States,  r.c.  362-361 
In  the  archonship  of  Molon 

Alliance  of  the  Athenians  and  Arcadians  and  Achaeans  and 
Eleans  and  Phliasians  : 

Voted  by  the  senate  and  people,  Qineis  was  prytanizing  tribe, 
Agatharchus  son  of  Agatharchus  of  Oa  was  secretary,  Xanthippus 
of  Hermus  was  president,  Periander  moved  : 

That  if  the  decision  concerning  the  alliance  shall  turn  out 
favorably  for  the  Athenian  people,  the  herald  straightway  offer  a 
vow  to  Olympian  Zeus  and  Athena  Polias  and  Demeter  and  Core 
and  the  Twelve  Gods  and  the  Revered  Goddesses,  and  that  sacrifice 
and  solemn  procession  take  place,  the  expenses  being  met  as  the 
people  decide ;  that  this  vow  be  offered  ;  and  that  inasmuch  as 
the  allies  have  reported  their  decision  to  the  senate,  namely  :  to 
accept  the  alliance  as  suggested  by  the  Arcadians  and  Achaeans  and 
Eleans  and  Phliasians,  and  as  the  senate  has  passed  a  resolution 
to  the  same  effect :  That  the  people  resolve  that  the  Athenians  and 
their  allies  be  allies  for  the  good  fortune  of  the  people  for  all  time 
with  the  Arcadians  and  Achaeans  and  Eleans  and  Phliasians.  .   .  . 

...  on  this  stele.  If  anyone  go  against  Attica,  or  attempt  to 
destroy  the  democracy  of  the  Athenians,  or  establish  a  tyranny  or  an 
oligarchy,  the  Arcadians  and  Achaeans  and  Eleans  and  Phliasians 
are  to  help  the  Athenians  to  the  best  of  their  ability  according  to 
the  demands  of  Athens  ;  and  if  anyone  go  against  the  Peloponne- 
sus, or  try  to  destroy  the  democracy  of  the  Phliasians  or  destroy  or 
disturb  the  constitution  of  the  Achaeans  or  Arcadians  or  Eleans, 
or  exile  any,  the  Athenians  shall  help  them  with  all  strength  ac- 
cording to  the  demands  of  those  who  are  being  wronged,  as  best 
they  can.  Each  is  to  have  hegemony  in  its  own  territory  ;  and  if 
it  seems  best  to  all  the  cities  to  add  anything  else,  this  addition 
is  to  be  considered  no  breach  of  the  oath. 


504  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

And  in  each  city  of  the  Peloponnesus  the  highest  authority 
shall  take  the  oath  ;  for  the  Athenians  the  generals  and  taxiarchs 
and  hipparchs  and  phylarchs  and  knights  ;  on  behalf  of  the  Arca- 
dians and  Achseans  and  Eleans  and  Phliasians  the  envoys  resident 
in  Athens  shall  take  it. 


III.   Epaminondas 

1.  HIS  CAREER 
Paiisanias,  IX,  xiii,  1-2 

Epaminondas  was  of  illustrious  descent,  but  his  father's  means 
were  less  than  those  of  an  ordinary  Theban  gentleman.  He  was 
not  only  thoroughly  trained  in  the  usual  education  of  his  country- 
men, but  also  studied  as  a  youth  under  Lysis,  a  native  of  Taren- 
tum,  and  an  adept  in  the  doctrines  of  Pythagoras,  the  Samian.  In 
the  war  between  Lacedaemon  and  Mantinea,  Epaminondas  is  said 
to  have  been  one  of  a  Theban  contingent  sent  to  aid  the  Lacedae- 
monians. In  the  battle  Pelopidas  was  wounded,  and  Epaminondas 
saved  him  at  extreme  personal  hazard.  Afterwards,  when  the  Lace- 
daemonians professed  to  be  concluding  the  peace  known  as  the  peace 
of  Antalcidas  with  the  rest  of  the  Greeks,  Epaminondas  was  sent 
to  Sparta  on  an  embassy.  On  this  occasion,  being  asked  by  Agesi- 
laus  whether  the  Thebans  would  allow  the  Boeotian  cities  to  ratify 
the  peace  separately,  he  answered,  "Not,  Spartans,  till  we  see  your 
subjects  also  ratifying  it  separately,  city  by  city." 

Pausanias,  IX,  xiii,  11 -12 

The  victory  achieved  by  the  Thebans  was  the  most  famous  that 
ever  Greeks  gained  over  Greeks.  On  the  morrow  the  Lacedae- 
monians purposed  to  bury  their  dead,  and  sent  a  herald  to  the 
Thebans.  But  Epaminondas,  aware  that  the  Lacedaemonians  were 
always  inclined  to  conceal  their  losses,  said  he  would  allow  their 
allies  to  take  up  their  dead  first,  and  only  after  they  had  done  so 
did  he  consent  that  the  Lacedaemonians  should  bury  their  dead. 
So  when  it  had  appeared  that  some  of  the  allies  had  no  bodies  to 
take  up,  because  none  of  them  had  fallen,  while  of  others  the  loss 
was  found  to  be  trifling,  the  Lacedaemonians  proceeded  to  bury 


SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN   SUPREMACIES  505 

their  dead,  and  then  the  fact  was  revealed  that  the  fallen  were 
Spartans.  The  Thebans  and  the  Boeotians  who  stood  by  them  lost 
forty-seven  men  ;  but  of  the  Lacedaemonians  themselves  there  fell 
more  than  a  thousand. 

2.  DEATH  AND  STATUES 

Pausafiias,  IX,  xv,  5-6 

When  he  led  his  army  to  Mantinea  he  was  still  victorious,  but 
even  in  the  hour  of  victory  he  fell  by  the  hand  of  an  Athenian. 
In  the  picture  of  the  cavalry  fight  at  Athens  this  man  is  depicted 
in  the  act  of  killing  Epaminondas  :  he  was  Grylus,  son  of  that 
Xenophon  who  marched  with  Cyrus  against  King  Artaxerxes,  and 
led  the  Greeks  back  to  the  sea. 

On  the  statue  of  Epaminondas  is  an  inscription  in  elegiac  verse 
in  which,  among  other  things,  it  is  mentioned  that  he  was  the 
founder  of  Messene,  and  that  Greece  attained  freedom  through 
him.    The  verses  run  thus  :  — 

By  my  counsels  Sparta  was  shorn  of  her  glory, 

And  sacred  Messene  received  her  children  at  last, 
And,  thanks  to  Thebe's  weapons.  Megalopolis  was  girt  with  walls, 

And  all  Greece  became  independent  and  free. 

So  many  were  his  titles  to  fame.^ 

3.  ESTIMATES  OF  HIS  ABILITY 

Polybius  attributes  the  success  of  Thebes  almost  entirely  to 
the  ability  of  Epaminondas  and  Pelopidas.  He  has  no  admira- 
tion for  the  Theban  constitution,  which  he  couples  with  the 
Athenian,  as  characterized  by  abnormal  growth,  brief  zenith,  and 
violent  changes. 

Polybius,  VI,  43 

The  Thebans  got  their  reputation  for  valour  among  the  Greeks, 
by  taking  advantage  of  the  senseless  policy  of  the  Lacedaemonians, 

1  The  cavalry  fight  at  Athens  is  described  in  I,  iii,  4,  Frazer's  note  on  which  says  that 
many  claimed  the  honor  of  being  his  slayer. 

See  also  Frazer's  notes  on  "  Pausanias,"  VIII,  xi,  5. 

There  was  another  statue  of  Epaminondas  at  Messene,  "  Pausanias,"  IV,  xxxi,  8. 


5o6  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

and  the  hatred  of  the  alhes  towards  them,  owing  to  the  valour  of 
one,  or  at  most  two,  men  who  were  wise  enough  to  appreciate  the 
situation.  Fortune  quickly  made  it  evident  that  it  was  not  the 
peculiarity  of  their  constitution,  but  the  valour  of  their  leaders,  which 
gave  the  Thebans  their  success.  For  the  great  power  of  Thebes 
notoriously  took  its  rise,  attained  its  zenith,  and  fell  to  the  ground 
with  the  lives  of  Epaminondas  and  Pelopidas.  We  must  therefore 
conclude  that  it  was  not  its  constitution,  but  its  men,  that  caused 
the  high  fortune  which  it  then  enjoyed. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS 

Conditions  during  the  early  part  of  tlie  fourth  century — Relations  with  the 
Samians  —  Activity  of  Conon  —  Contrast  of  patriotic  and  dishonest  officials  — 
The  peace  of  391-390  —  Advocates  of  Pan-Hellenic  unity — The  second  Athe- 
nian confederacy  —  Formation  and  list  of  allies — Alliance  with  Corcyra  — 
Foreign  relations  —  The  Athenian  constitution  —  Contrast  with  the  "good  old 
days"  —  The  constitution  in  the  fourth  century 

I.   Conditions  during  the  Early  Fourth  Century 

1.  RELATIONS  WITH  THE  SAMIANS 

In  spite  of  the  power  of  Sparta  and  Thebes,  Athens  soon  began 
to  recover  herself.  Before  many  years  she  had  laid  the  founda- 
tions for  a  second  confederacy,  in  which  she  attempted  to  avoid 
the  mistakes  she  had  made  in  the  empire. 

The  following  inscriptions  show  the  friendly  relations  between 
the  newly  restored  Athenian  democracy  and  the  Samians,  who  had 
rendered  such  good  assistance  during  the  time  of  civil  strife. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  8 1 

Honors  to  the  Samian  Demus  for  their  Fidelity,  b.c.  405-403 

Cephisophon  of  Pasania  was  secretary. 

For  the  Samians  as  many  as  joined  themselves  with  the  people 
of  the  Athenians. 

Voted  by  the  senate  and  people.  Cecropis  was  pr^tanizing  tribe, 
Polymnis  of  Euonymia  was  secretary.  Alexias  was  archon,  Nico- 
phon  of  Athmone  presided.  Motion  of  Clisophus  and  his  fellow- 
presiding  officers  : 

To  commend  the  Samian  ambassadors,  both  those  who  came 
before  and  those  now  here,  and  the  senate  and  the  generals  and  the 
rest  of  the  Samians,  inasmuch  as  they  are  excellent  men  and. eager 

507 


5o8  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

to  do  all  possible  good,  and  as  to  their  former  deeds  that  they  seem 
to  have  done  excellently  for  the  Athenians  and  Samians, 

And  in  return  for  the  kindnesses  done  the  Athenians  and  the 
present  benefits  which  they  are  conferring  and  proposing,  be  it 
voted  by  senate  and  assembly,  that  the  Samians  be  made  Athenian 
citizens,  adopting  any  constitution  they  please,  and  that  these  terms 
may  be  as  advantageous  as  possible  to  both  parties,  let  them  when 
peace  is  made  take  counsel  in  common  about  other  matters  as  the 
Samians  propose  ;  that  they  be  independent  and  make  use  of  their 
own  laws,  and  act  in  other  respects  in  accordance  with  the  oaths 
and  the  agreements  just  as  has  been  established  between  the  Athe- 
nians and  the  Samians  ;  and  with  reference  to  complaints  that 
may  arise  against  each  other,  the  suits  be  submitted  to  a  peaceful 
settlement  in  accordance  with  the  existing  agreement. 

If  any  necessity  arise  through  the  war  or  formerly  about  the 
government,  let  them,  as  the  ambassadors  themselves  suggest,  take 
counsel  and  act  as  seems  best  in  regard  to  the  cases  that  arise  ;  if 
[any  necessity]  arise  concerning  peace,  the  same  course  shall  be 
followed,  just  as  is  now  the  case  with  the  Athenians  and  those  now 
dwelling  in  Samos  ;  but  if  war  is  unavoidable,  they  themselves 
shall  prepare  for  it  acting  to  the  best  of  their  ability  with  the  gen- 
erals. If,  however,  the  Athenians  send  an  embassy  anywhere,  those 
from  Samos  shall  join  in  sending  it  if  they  wish  to  name  an  ambassa- 
dor, and  shall  help  with  whatever  good  advice  they  may  have  to  give. 

That  they  be  given  permission  to  use  the  triremes  now  at  Samos, 
fitting  them  out  as  they  like.  The  names  of  the  trierarchs  who  had 
these  ships  shall  be  recorded  by  the  ambassadors  for  the  secretary 
of  the  senate  and  the  generals  ;  and  if  it  is  recorded  anywhere  in  the 
treasury  that  these  are  responsible  for  the  triremes,  let  the  super- 
intendents of  the  dockyard  erase  it  in  every  place  ;  and  they  shall  de- 
mand the  immediate  return  of  the  equipment  to  the  state,  and  compel 
those  who  have  any  of  it  in  good  condition  to  hand  it  over  at  once. 

Motion  of  Clisophus  and  his  fellow  presidents  :  The  following 
addition  is  proposed  :  —  That  the  citizenship  be  granted  now  to 
those  who  have  come,  as  they  ask,  and  that  they  immediately  be 
distributed  by  lot  into  the  tribes  in  ten  divisions  ;  that  the  generals 
prepare  the  passage  for  the  ambassadors  as  soon  as  possible,  and 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  509 

that  a  vote  of  thanks  be  given  to  Eumachus  and  all  the  other 
Samians  who  came  with  him  as  good  friends  of  the  Athenians  ; 
and  that  Eumachus  be  invited  to  dinner  in  the  town-hall  to-morrow. 
That  the  secretary  of  the  senate  and  the  generals  inscribe  the 
decree  on  a  marble  slab  and  set  it  up  on  the  Acropolis,  and  the 
Hellenotamiae  pay  for  it.  That  it  be  likewise  inscribed  in  Samos 
at  the  expense  of  the  Samians. 

Second  Decree 

Voted  by  the  senate  and  people.  Pandionis  was  the  prytanizing 
tribe,  Agyrrhius  of  Collyte  was  secretary,  Euclides  was  archon, 
Callias  of  Oa  was  in  the  chair,  Cephisophon  moved  :  — 

To  commend  the  Samians  that  they  are  good  friends  of  the 
Athenians  and  that  all  the  things  which  the  Athenian  people 
voted  for  the  Samians  be  still  valid. 

That  the  Samians  send,  as  they  themselves  advise,  to  Sparta 
anyone  that  they  please  ;  but  inasmuch  as  they  ask  the  Athenians 
to  help  them,  that  we  choose  additional  ambassadors  and  that  these 
act  with  the  Samians  as  best  they  can  and  decide  on  a  policy  in 
common  with  them. 

The  Athenians  praise  the  people  of  Ephesus  and  Notium  for 
readily  receiving  exiles  from  Samos. 

That  the  embassy  of  the  Samians  be  introduced  to  the  assembly 
to  transact  business  if  they  desire  anything,  and  that  the  embassy 
of  Samos  be  invited  to  dinner  in  the  town-hall  to-morrow. 

Cephisophon  moved :  —  In  regard  to  the  other  matters  to  agree 
with  the  senate  ;  but  that  it  be  voted  by  the  Athenian  people,  that 
the  former  resolutions  about  the  Samians  be  in  force,  just  as  the 
previous  senate  had  reported  them  to  the  people  ;  that  the  embassy 
of  the  Samians  be  invited  to  dinner  to-morrow  in  the  town-hall. 

Third  Decree 

Voted  by  the  Senate  and  people.  Erechtheis  was  the  presiding 
tribe,  Cephisophon  of  Paeania  was  secretary,  Euclides  was  archon. 
Python  from  Cedi  presided,  Eu  .  .  .  moved  :  — 

To  commend  Poses  the  Samian  as  a  good  man  towards  the 
Athenians,  and  that  in  return  for  his  services  to  the  people  they 


5IO  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

give  him  a  present  of  five  hundred  drachmas  for  the  purchase  of 
a  crown,  and  the  treasurers  are  to  pay  over  the  money ;  that  he 
should  be  formally  introduced  to  the  people  and  should  receive  at 
their  hands  all  possible  kindness.  The  secretary  of  the  senate  is  to 
hand  over  to  him  at  once  the  text  of  the  decree,  and  the  Samians 
present  are  to  be  invited  to  dinner  at  the  town-hall  to-morrow. 
.  .  .  moved  to  amend  the  motion  of  the  senate  as  follows  : 
That  Poses  the  Samian  and  his  sons  be  commended  as  good 
friends  to  the  Athenian  people,  and  that  the  former  decrees  of 
the  Athenians  be  in  force  ;  that  the  secretary  have  this  decree  in- 
scribed on  a  marble  stele  and  the  treasurers  furnish  money  for  it; 
and  that  the  people  give  Poses  a  present  of  a  thousand  drachmas 
on  account  of  his  excellence  towards  the  Athenians,  and  out  of 
the  thousand  drachmas  a  crown  is  to  be  made  and  an  inscription 
put  on  it  that  the  people  crowned  him  on  account  of  his  courageous 
honesty  and  good  will  towards  the  Athenians. 

The  Samians  also  are  to  be  commended  for  their  good  will  to 
Athens,  and  if  they  desire  anything  from  the  people,  the  presiding 
officers  are  to  introduce  them  into  the  first  assembly  directly  after 
the  sacrifices ;  they  are  to  take  also  the  sons  of  Poses  to  the  assem- 
bly to  a  front  seat ;  and  they  are  to  summon  to  a  banquet  .  .  .  and 
those  of  the  Samians  who  are  now  at  Athens. 

2.  ACTIVITY  OF  CONON 

An  important  step  toward  the  recovery  of  Athenian  prestige 
was  taken  by  Conon,  who  gained  several  brilliant  naval  victories, 
notably  that  at  Cnidus. 

Xenophon,  Hellejiica,  IV,  iii,  11-12 

The  engagement  of  the  hostile  fleets  took  place  off  Cnidus. 
PharnabazLis,  the  Persian  admiral,  was  present  with  the  Phoenician 
fleet,  and  in  front  of  him  were  ranged  the  ships  of  the  Hellenic 
squadron  under  Conon.  Peisander  had  ventured  to  draw  out  his 
squadron  to  meet  the  combined  fleets,  though  the  numerical  in- 
feriority of  his  fleet  to  that  of  the  Hellenic  navy  under  Conon  was 
conspicuous,  and  he  had  the  mortification  of  seeing  the  allies  who 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  511 

formed  his  left  wing  take  to  flight  immediately.  He  himself  came 
to  close  quarters  with  the  enemy,  and  was  driven  on  shore,  on 
board  his  trireme,  under  pressure  of  the  hostile  rams.  The  rest, 
as  many  as  were  driven  to  shore,  deserted  their  ships  and  sought 
safety  as  best  they  could  in  the  territory  of  Cnidus.  The  admiral 
alone  stuck  to  his  ship,  and  fell  sword  in  hand. 

Xenophon,  HcUcnica^  IV,  viii,  1-3 

In  the  first  place,  then,  Pharnabazus  and  Conon,  after  defeating 
the  Lacedaemonians  in  the  naval  engagement  off  Cnidus,  com- 
menced a  tour  of  inspection  round  the  islands  and  the  maritime 
states,  expelling  from  them,  as  they  visited  them,  one  after  an- 
other the  Spartan  governors.  Everywhere  they  gave  consolatory 
assurances  to  the  citizens  that  they  had  no  intention  of  establishing 
fortress  citadels  within  their  walls,  or  in  any  way  interfering  with 
their  self-government.  Such  words  fell  soothingly  upon  the  ears 
of  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed  ;  the  proposals  were  courte- 
ously accepted  ;  all  were  eager  to  present  Pharnabazus  with  gifts 
of  friendship  and  hospitality.  The  satrap,  indeed,  was  only  apply- 
ing the  instructions  of  his  master  Conon  on  these  matters  —  who 
had  taught  him  that  if  he  acted  thus  all  the  states  would  be  friendly 
to  him,  whereas,  if  he  showed  any  intention  to  enslave  them,  the 
smallest  of  them  would,  as  Conon  insisted,  be  capable  of  causing 
a  world  of  trouble,  and  the  chances  were,  if  apprehensions  were 
once  excited,  he  would  find  himself  face  to  face  with  a  coalition  of 
united  Hellas.  To  these  admonitions  Pharnabazus  lent  a  willing  ear. 

Xenophon,  HcUctiica,  IV,  viii,  7-1 1 

B.C.  393.  The  winter  was  thus  fully  taken  up  with  prepara- 
tions ;  but  with  the  approach  of  spring,  Pharnabazus  and  Conon, 
with  a  large  fleet  fully  manned,  and  a  foreign  mercenary  brigade 
to  boot,  threaded  their  way  through  the  islands  to  Melos.  This 
island  was  to  serve  as  a  base  of  operations  against  Lacedaemon. 
And  in  the  first  instance  he  sailed  down  to  Pherae  and  ravaged 
that  district,  after  which  he  made  successive  descents  at  various 
other  points  on  the  seaboard,  and  did  what  injury  he  could.  But 
in  apprehension  of  the  harbourless  character  of  the  coast,  coupled 


512  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

with  the  enemy's  facihty  of  reinforcement  and  his  own  scarcity  of 
suppHes,  he  very  soon  turned  back  and  sailed  away,  until  finally  he 
came  to  moorings  in  the  harbour  of  Phoenicus  in  C)thera.  The 
occupants  of  the  city  of  the  Cytherians,  in  terror  of  being  taken 
by  storm,  evacuated  the  walls.  To  dismiss  these  under  a  flag  of 
truce  across  to  Laconia  was  his  first  step ;  his  second  was  to  repair 
the  fortress  in  question  and  to  leave  a  garrison  in  the  island  under 
an  Athenian  governor  —  Nicophemus.  After  this  he  set  sail  to 
the  Isthmus  of  Corinth,  where  he  delivered  an  exhortation  to  the 
allies  begging  them  to  prosecute  the  war  vigorously  and  to  show 
themselves  faithful  to  the  Great  King ;  and  so,  having  left  them 
all  the  moneys  he  had  with  him,  set  off  on  his  voyage  home. 

But  Conon  had  a  proposal  to  make  :  —  If  Pharnabazus  would 
allow  him  to  keep  the  fleet,  he  would  undertake,  in  the  first  place, 
to  support  it  free  of  expense  from  the  islands  ;  besides  which,  he 
would  sail  to  his  own  country  and  help  his  fellow-citizens  the  Athe- 
nians to  rebuild  their  long  walls  and  the  fortifications  round  Piraeus. 
No  heavier  blow,  he  insisted,  could  well  be  inflicted  on  Lacedae- 
mon.  "  In  this  way,  I  can  assure  you,"  he  added,  "you  will  win 
the  eternal  gratitude  of  the  Athenians  and  wreak  consummate 
vengeance  on  the  Lacedaemonians,  since  at  one  stroke  you  will 
render  null  and  void  that  on  which  they  have  bestowed  their  ut- 
most labour."  These  arguments  so  far  weighed  with  Pharnabazus 
that  he  despatched  Conon  to  Athens  with  alacrity,  and  further  sup- 
plied him  with  funds  for  the  restoration  of  the  walls.  Thus  it  was 
that  Conon,  on  his  arrival  at  Athens,  was  able  to  rebuild  a  large 
portion  of  the  walls  —  partly  by  lending  his  own  crews,  and  partly 
by  giving  pay  to  carpenters  and  stone-masons,  and  meeting  all  the 
necessary  expenses.  There  were  other  portions  of  the  walls  which 
the  Athenians  and  Boeotians  and  other  states  raised  as  a  joint 
voluntary  undertaking. 

The  inscription  in  honor  of  Conon,  passed  by  the  Erythraeans, 
was  in  appreciation  of  the  fair  and  courteous  treatment  of  the 
islands  and  coast  cities  during  the  expedition  of  Conon  and 
Pharnabazus. 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  513 

Hicks  a?id  Hill,  89 

Honors  to  Conon,  at  Erythr.e  ix  Ioxia,  b.c.  394 

Voted  by  the  senate  and  people  :  —  That  Conon  be  recorded  as 
a  benefactor  and  proxenus  of  the  Erythraeans,  and  have  the  privi- 
lege of  a  front  seat  among  the  Erythraeans  and  be  free  from  all 
taxes,  both  import  and  export,  in  war  and  peace  ;  and  that  he  be 
an  Erythraean  citizen  if  he  choose  ;  and  these  things  are  to  be  for 
him  and  his  descendants  ;  and  that  there  be  made  a  gilt  bronze 
statue  of  him  and  set  up  wherever  he  likes.   .  .   . 

3.  CONTRAST   OF  PATRIOTIC   AND   DISHONEST  OFFICIALS 

This  selection  from  an  oration  of  Lysias,  in  defense  of  a  certain 
Aristophanes,  shows  the  generosity  and  public  spirit  of  the  best 
citizens,  and  is  particularly  interesting  because  of  its  references 
to  Conon. 

Lysias,  XIX  {On  the  Property  of  Aristophanes),  19-23 

You  will  know  that  I  am  telling  the  truth  if  you  consider  his 
actions.  In  the  first  place,  when  Conon  wanted  to  send  someone 
to  Sicily,  he  volunteered  and  went  with  Eunomus,  Dionysius  being 
a  personal  and  official  friend  who  had  done  many  good  deeds  for 
your  democracy,  as  I  heard  from  those  in  Piraeus  who  were  in  his 
company.  The  hopes  of  the  undertaking  were  to  persuade  Diony- 
sius to  marry  the  sister  of  Evagoras,  an  enemy  to  the  Lacedae- 
monians and  a  friend  and  ally  to  your  city.  They  were  attempting 
this  in  the  face  of  many  dangers,  both  from  the  sea  and  from  the 
enemy ;  and  they  persuaded  Dionysius  not  to  send  the  triremes 
which  he  had  then  secured  for  Sparta.  Afterwards,  when  the  am- 
bassadors came  from  Cyprus  to  ask  help,  he  spared  no  effort.  You 
gave  them  ships  and  voted  other  supplies,  but  they  were  in  need 
of  funds  for  the  expedition.  They  came  with  a  little  money  and 
asked  for  much  more,  not  only  for  ships,  but  also  for  light-armed 
troops  which  they  proceeded  to  hire  and  weapons  which  they  pur- 
chased. Aristophanes,  however,  furnished  most  of  the  money  him- 
self.   When  his  own  funds  gave  out,  he  secured  money  from  his 


5 14  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

friends  by  begging  and  borrowing ;  and  even  spent  forty  minas  of 
his  half-brother's  which  had  been  deposited  at  his  house.  The  day 
before  he  sailed  he  went  to  my  father  and  asked  him  to  lend  what 
money  he  had.  He  said  he  needed  this  in  addition  to  pay  the 
mercenaries.  We  had  seven  minae  in  the  house;  these  too  he  took 
and  spent.  Do  you  think,  gentlemen,  that  a  man  who  was  eager 
for  distinction,  on  receipt  of  letters  from  his  father  assuring  him 
that  he  would  be  well  supplied  in  Cyprus,  who,  moreover,  had  been 
chosen  ambassador,  and  was  on  the  point  of  sailing  to  Evagoras, 
—  do  you  think,  I  repeat,  that  such  a  man  would  leave  anything 
behind  and  not  rather  gratify  that  monarch,  if  he  could,  by  con- 
tributing everything  he  had  and  so  make  a  handsome  profit .'' 

An  equally  interesting  though  less  pleasing  picture  is  given  in 
the  oration  against  one  Ergocles  on  the  charge  of  bribery  and  cor- 
ruption and  other  forms  of  dishonesty  by  which  he  had  enriched 
himself  at  the  expense  of  the  state. 

Lysias,  XXVIII  {Against  Ergocles) 

The  charges  are  so  many  and  so  grave,  men  of  Athens,  that  I 
do  not  feel  that  Ergocles  could  pay  a  fitting  penalty  to  you  all  if 
condemned  to  die  many  times  for  each  one  of  his  misdeeds.  For 
he  has  manifestly  betrayed  cities,  and  wronged  your  proxenoi  and 
citizens,  and  from  poverty  has  made  himself  rich  at  your  expense. 
In  truth,  why  should  you  feel  any  compassion  for  these  men  when 
you  see  the  ships  that  they  commanded  dispersed  through  lack  of 
funds  and  become  few  instead  of  many,  while  the  men  who  were 
poor  and  needy  when  they  went  on  the  expedition  have  so  quickly 
got  possession  of  more  property  than  that  which  the  rest  of  the 
citizens  possess  .-*  It  is  your  part  now,  Athenians,  to  vent  your 
wrath  on  men  of  this  stamp.  For  surely  it  would  be  a  strange  con- 
dition of  affairs  if  now  you  who  are  burdened  with  heavy  taxes 
should  pardon  thieves  and  bribe  takers,  when  in  former  days,,  at  a 
time  when  your  private  property  and  the  revenues  were  large,  you 
punished  with  death  those  who  cast  longing  eyes  upon  your  pos- 
sessions. I  think  you  will  all  agree  that  if  Thrasybulus  had  stated 
definitely  to  you  that  he  was  going  to  sail  out  with  the  ships  and 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  5 IS 

was  going  to  return  them  to  you  old  instead  of  new,  and  that  the 
risks  would  be  yours  and  the  benefits  his  and  his  friends',  and 
that  you  would  be  made  poorer  on  account  of  taxes  while  he  would 
make  Ergocles  and  those  flattering  friends  of  his  the  richest  of 
the  citizens,  no  one  of  you  would  have  allowed  him  to  take  the 
ships  and  sail  out.  Particularly  in  view  of  the  fact  that  as  soon  as 
you  passed  a  vote  that  he  was  to  make  a  statement  of  the  money 
taken  from  the  cities,  and  that  his  fellow  commanders  were  to  sail 
home  to  stand  their  audit,  Ergocles  said  that  you  were  slander- 
ing them  and  trying  to  reinstate  the  old  laws,  and  he  advised 
Thrasybulus  to  seize  Byzantium  and  keep  the  ships  and  marry  the 
daughter  of  Seuthes.  "  That  you  may  stop  their  slanderous  mouths," 
he  said,  "  and  you  will  make  them  afraid  for  their  own  possessions 
instead  of  sitting  there  at  home  plotting  against  you  and  your 
friends."  And  so,  Athenians,  as  soon  as  they  had  their  fill  and 
had  a  taste  of  your  property,  they  regarded  themselves  as  aliens  to 
the  state.  They  grow  rich  and  despise  you  at  the  same  time,  and 
make  preparations  to  obey  you  no  longer,  but  to  rule  you,  and 
through  fear  on  account  of  the  money  they  have  filched  they  are 
ready  to  seize  the  fortified  places  and  reestablish  an  oligarchy  and 
go  to  any  extreme,  that  you  may  daily  be  in  the  direst  dangers  ; 
for  they  believe  that  you  will  now  pay  no  attention  to  their  wrong- 
doing but  in  dread  for  yourselves  and  the  state  will  hold  your  peace 
towards  men  of  this  sort.  Now  Thrasybulus  {for  there  is  no  need 
to  say  more  about  him)  did  well  to  die  as  he  did,  for  it  was  not 
right  that  he  should  live  planning  further  acts  of  that  sort,  nor  yet 
that  he  be  put  to  death  by  you  after  having  rendered  good  service, 
but  rather  that  in  this  way  he  should  end  his  connection  with  the 
state.  And  yet  I  see  them  on  account  of  the  proceedings  in  the 
assembly  of  day  before  yesterday  no  longer  sparing  of  their  money, 
but  trying  to  buy  their  safety  from  the  prosecutors  and  from  their 
enemies  and  from  the  presiding  officers  and  trying  to  corrupt 
many  of  the  Athenians  with  silver.  Wherefore  it  is  right  for  you 
to  clear  yourselves  from  any  such  imputation  by  punishing  this 
man,  and  to  show  everyone  that  not  all  the  money  in  the  world 
would  persuade  you  not  to  punish  wrong-doers.  Remember,  Athe- 
nians, that  it  is  not  only  Ergocles  but  the  whole  city  that  is  on 


5i6  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

trial.  You  are  going  to  show  your  officers  whether  they  must  be 
honest  or  whether,  when  they  have  stolen  most  of  your  property, 
they  must  secure  safety  for  themselves  by  the  methods  which  these 
men  are  now  essaying.  But  you  ought  to  keep  in  mind,  Athenians, 
that  a  man  who  in  a  time  of  such  poverty  for  your  fortunes  either 
betrays  cities  or  thinks  it  right  to  take  bribes  is  really  betraying 
your  fortifications  and  ships  to  the  enemy  and  is  establishing  an 
oligarchy  instead  of  a  democracy.  And  so  it  is  not  right  for  you 
to  be  worsted  by  their  schemes,  but  you  ought  to  make  them  an 
example  to  all  and  not  make  gain  or  pity  or  anything  else  of  more 
importance  than  their  punishment. 

Now,  Athenians,  I  think  Ergocles  will  not  attempt  to  defend 
himself  about  Halicarnassus  or  his  command  or  his  acts,  but  will 
say  that  he  came  back  with  the  Phyle  party  and  that  he  is  a  demo- 
crat and  shared  all  your  perils  with  you.  I  do  not  agree  with  him 
on  this  point ;  indeed  I  hold  that  not  even  in  the  case  of  men  who 
shared  your  perils,  through  desire  of  freedom  and  justice,  and 
wished  the  laws  to  be  effective  and  hated  wrong-doers  should  their 
exile  be  reckoned  up  to  their  credit  for  unjust  ends  ;  and  as  for 
those  who  returned  under  the  democracy  and  are  now  wronging  the 
people,  and  making  their  own  estates  large  at  your  expense,  such 
men  merit  your  anger  even  more  than  the  Thirty.  For  the  Thirty 
were  appointed  for  this  very  purpose,  namely,  that  they  might  harm 
you  by  fair  means  or  foul ;  but  you  entrusted  yourselves  to  these 
men  that  they  might  make  the  city  great  and  free.  None  of  this 
has  fallen  to  your  lot,  but  as  far  as  they  were  concerned  you  got 
into  very  dreadful  dangers ;  so  that  you  might  much  better  pity 
yourselves  and  your  wives  and  children,  because  you  have  been 
outraged  by  such  wretches,  than  pity  them.  For  just  when  we 
have  made  up  our  minds  that  we  are  really  safe,  we  suffer  worse 
things  from  our  own  officials  than  from  the  enemy.  However,  you 
all  know  there  is  no  hope  of  safety  for  us  if  any  disaster  comes. 
And  so  you  ought,  encouraging  each  other,  to  inflict  the  severest 
punishment  on  these  men,  and  show  the  other  Greeks  that  you 
take  vengeance  on  wrong-doers,  and  thus  you  will  improve  the 
character  of  your  staff  of  officials.  I  therefore  advise  you  to  take 
this  course  ;  but  you  ought  to  see  for  yourselves  that  if  you  follow 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  517 

my  advice  you  will  be  looking  out  for  your  own  best  interests, 
otherwise  you  will  find  your  citizens  degenerating.  Furthermore, 
Athenians,  if  you  acquit  these  men  they  will  not  thank  you,  but 
the  money  they  have  spent  in  bribes  and  the  money  which  they 
have  embezzled  ;  and  so  you  will  leave  their  hatred  of  you  un- 
changed, but  they  will  thank  money  for  their  safety.  And  indeed, 
if  you  inflict  severest  punishment  on  these  men,  the  Halicarnas- 
sians  and  the  others  who  have  been  wronged  by  them  will  think 
that  when  they  were  ruined  by  these  men  you  have  come  to  their 
rescue  ;  but  if  you  save  these  men  they  will  think  that  you  have 
become  the  accomplices  of  their  betrayers.  And  so  it  is  only  right 
that  you,  bearing  all  these  facts  in  mind,  should  pay  your  debt  of 
gratitude  to  your  allies  and  punish  the  offenders. 

4.  THE   PEACE  OF  B.C.  391-390 

Early  in  the  century,  when  both  Athens  and  Sparta  were  trying 
to  get  the  support  of  Persia,  some  were  anxious  that  peace  should 
be  made  with  Sparta. 

An  earnest  advocate  of  this  policy  was  Andocides,  who  claimed 
that  the  Athenians  were  too  grasping,  and  that,  as  Sparta  was  will- 
ing to  make  certain  concessions,  Athens  would  do  well  to  accept 
them  and  that  ships  and  walls,  which  Sparta  was  willing  to  grant, 
had  always  been  the  basis  of  Athens's  power.^ 

Andocides,  De  Pace,  13-16 

Some  say  that  we  must  needs  wage  war  now.  Therefore  let  us 
consider  in  the  first  place,  men  of  Athens,  for  what  reason  we 
should  fight.  I  think  ever)'one  would  agree  that  necessar)^  causes 
of  war  are  the  following :  — the  fact  of  suffering  wrong  or  the  desire 
to  assist  those  who  have  been  wronged.  Now  we  ourselves  were  in- 
jured and  we  helped  the  Boeotians  when  they  had  been  wronged.  If, 
however,  we  have  the  assurance  that  our  injuries  from  Sparta  are 
at  an  end,  and  if  the  Boeotians  have  decided  to  make  peace,  leav- 
ing Orchomenus  independent,  what  reason  have  we  for  fighting  1 

1  The  negotiations  for  peace  are  not  mentioned  by  Xenophon  in  "  Hellenica "  (see 
note  on  ''  Hellenica,"  in  Vol.  II,  p.  64  of  Dakyns's  translation). 


5i8  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

In  order  that  our  city  may  be  free  ?  But  freedom  is  already  hers. 
Is  it  that  we  may  have  walls  ?  Those  too  are  provided  for  in 
the  treaty.  Then  is  it  that  we  may  have  a  chance  to  build  ships 
and  fit  out  those  we  have  and  keep  them  ?  This  too  is  possible, 
for  the  agreements  make  the  cities  independent.  Then  is  it  to 
acquire  the  islands,  Lemnos,  Scyros  and  Imbros?  Has  it  not  been 
expressly  stated  that  they  belong  to  Athens  .''  Again,  is  it  to  get 
back  Chersonese  and  the  colonies,  our  property  and  our  invest- 
ments ?  But  neither  the  King  nor  the  allies  are  at  one  with  us, 
and  it  is  with  their  help  that  we  have  to  fight  for  the  possession 
of  all  this.  Well  then,  by  Zeus,  shall  we  fight  until  we  have  beaten 
the  Lacedaemonians  and  their  allies  ?  I  do  not  think  our  resources 
are  adequate  for  that.  If,  indeed,  we  should  be  successful,  what  do 
we  think  will  be  our  own  fate  at  the  hands  of  the  barbarians  when 
we  have  accomplished  our  aim  ?  If,  however,  it  were  necessary  to 
fight  about  this,  and  we  had  enough  money  and  sufficient  troops, 
not  even  under  those  conditions  would  it  be  right  to  go  to  war. 
But  since  we  have  neither  motive  nor  resources  nor  occasion  for 
fighting,  why  then,  from  every  point  of  view,  should  not  peace  be 
made  by  us .'' 

Andocides,  Z)e  Pace,  35-41 

Now,  Athenians,  when  we  serve  as  your  ambassadors  we  must 
look  not  only  to  the  letter  of  the  terms,  but  also  consider  your  dis- 
position. For  it  is  your  habit  to  feel  misgivings  and  to  raise  objec- 
tions in  regard  to  what  is  at  your  disposal,  and  invent  non-existent 
conditions  as  if  they  were  ready  at  hand  ;  so  that  if  war  is  neces- 
sary you  long  for  peace,  but  if  anyone  makes  peace  on  your  behalf, 
you  consider  how  many  benefits  the  war  accomplished  for  you. 
Wherefore  even  now  there  are  some  who  say  they  do  not  under- 
stand what  the  truce  means,  if  the  city  is  to  get  only  walls  and 
ships,  for  they  say  they  do  not  get  back  their  private  possessions 
on  foreign  soil,  and  stone  walls  do  not  give  them  bread.  And  so, 
of  necessity,  something  must  be  said  in  answer  to  that. 

There  was  once  a  time,  Athenians,  when  we  had  no  walls  and 
ships,  but  when  we  did  get  them  we  gained  a  foundation  of  our 
fortunes.    If  now  too  you  desire  wealth,  you  must  acquire  ships 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  519 

and  walls.  With  these  resources  as  a  starting-point  our  fathers 
gained  for  the  city  power  greater  than  other  city  had  ever  had, 
acquiring  some  things  by  persuasion,  some  by  strategy,  some  by 
purchase,  some  by  coercion  ;  by  persuasion  Athens  became  treas- 
urer of  the  funds  of  the  confederacy,  we  controlled  the  mustering 
of  the  ships,  we  furnished  them  to  those  of  the  cities  that  had  no 
triremes  ;  by  evading  the  Lacedaemonians  we  rebuilt  the  walls  ;  by 
paying  the  price  to  Sparta  we  escaped  paying  the  penalty  for  it ; 
by  coercing  those  opposed  to  us  we  acquired  rule  over  the  Greeks. 
And  we  enjoyed  this  strong  position  for  eighty-five  years.  But 
when  we  were  defeated  in  the  war  we  lost  everything,  and  the 
Lacedaemonians  deprived  us  of  both  walls  and  ships,  as  pledges 
of  maintaining  peace,  taking  over  the  former  and  destroying  the 
latter,  to  prevent  us  from  making  the  city  strong  again  with  these 
as  our  resource  to  start  with.  And  yet,  won  over  by  us.  Spartan 
envoys  are  present  with  full  power,  offering  to  restore  these  pledges 
to  us,  and  to  let  us  have  our  walls  and  ships  and  dominion  over 
the  islands.  Some,  however,  say  this  peace  is  not  worth  accept- 
ing although  we  get  the  same  foundation  for  prosperity  as  our 
ancestors  had. 

Therefore  let  these  orators  come  forward  and  show  you  (we 
have  given  them  the  opportunity,  since  we  allowed  forty  days  for 
consideration),  first,  whether  any  clause  of  the  agreement  has 
anything  disadvantageous  about  it,  for,  in  that  case,  it  is  possible 
to  delete  that ;  secondly,  if  anyone  wishes  to  add  anything,  let  him 
convince  you  and  then  put  it  as  an  amendment.  There  is  peace 
for  everyone  who  adopts  the  terms  proposed,  but  if  these  are  not 
satisfactory,  war.  And  the  whole  responsibility  rests  with  you, 
Athenians.     Choose  whichever  course  you  wish. 

5.  ADVOCATES  OF  PAN-HELLENIC  UNITY 
There  were  always  advocates  of  Pan-Hellenic  unity.  We  find  it 
advised  in  a  fragment  of  Lysias's  "  Olympiacus,"  but  its  most  ardent 
and  constant  advocate  was  Isocrates,  who  in  his  long  life  of  nearly 
a  hundred  years,  from  the  time  of  Pericles  to  that  of  Demosthenes, 
had  many  opportunities  to  express  his  views. 


520  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

Isocrates,  IV,  75-85 

Now  I  think  that  the  greatest  sei'vices  have  been  rendered  and 
the  greatest  praises  desei'ved  by  those  who  exposed  their  persons 
in  the  forefront  of  danger  for  the  sake  of  Hellas  ;  yet  it  is  not  fair 
either  to  forget  those  who  lived  before  this  war  and  held  power  in 
these  two  states  respectively.  For  they  it  was  who  trained  before- 
hand those  coming  after  them,  inclined  the  multitude  to  virtue, 
and  created  formidable  antagonists  for  the  barbarians.  For  they 
did  not  despise  the  public  interests,  nor  enjoy  the  resources  of  the 
state  as  their  own,  while  neglecting  her  interests  as  no  concern  of 
theirs  ;  but  they  were  as  solicitous  for  the  common  welfare  as  for 
their  own  domestic  happiness,  and  at  the  same  time  properly  stood 
aloof  from  matters  which  did  not  affect  them.  They  did  not  esti- 
mate happiness  by  the  standard  of  money,  but  they  thought  that 
the  surest  and  best  wealth  was  possessed  by  the  man  who  pursued 
such  conduct  as  would  enable  him  to  gain  the  best  reputation 
for  himself  and  leave  behind  the  greatest  fame  for  his  children. 
They  did  not  emulate  one  another's  shameless  audacity,  nor  culti- 
vate effrontery  in  their  own  persons,  but  deemed  it  more  terrible 
to  be  ill-spoken  of  by  their  fellow-citizens  than  to  die  nobly  for  the 
state,  and  were  more  ashamed  of  public  errors  than  they  are  now 
of  their  own  personal  faults.  The  reason  of  this  was  that  they  took 
care  that  their  laws  should  be  exact  and  good,  those  concerned  with 
the  relations  of  every-day  life  even  more  than  those  that  had  to  do 
with  private  contracts.  For  they  knew  that  good  men  and  true  will 
have  no  need  of  many  written  documents,  but,  whether  on  private 
or  public  matters,  will  easily  come  to  an  agreement  by  the  aid  of  a 
few  recognized  principles.  Such  was  their  public  spirit,  that  the 
object  of  their  political  parties  was  to  dispute,  not  which  should 
destroy  the  other  and  rule  over  the  rest,  but  which  should  be  first 
in  doing  some  service  to  the  state  ;  and  they  organized  their  clubs, 
not  for  their  private  interests,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  people. 
They  pursued  the  same  method  in  their  dealings  with  other  states, 
treating  the  Hellenes  with  deference  and  not  with  insolence,  con- 
sidering that  their  rule  over  them  should  be  that  of  a  general,  not 
of  a  despot,  and  desiring  to  be  addressed  as  leaders  rather  than 
masters,  and  to  be  entitled  saviours  and  not  reviled  as  destroyers ; 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  521 

they  won  over  states  by  kindness  instead  of  overthrowing  them  by 
force  ;  they  made  their  word  more  trustworthy  than  their  oath  is 
now,  and  thought  it  their  duty  to  abide  by  treaties  as  by  the  decrees 
of  necessity ;  not  proud  of  their  power  as  ambitious  to  hve  in  self- 
restraint,  they  thought  it  right  to  have  the  same  feehngs  towards 
their  inferiors  as  they  expected  their  superiors  to  have  towards 
them,  and  they  considered  their  own  cities  as  merely  private  towns, 
while  they  looked  upon  Hellas  as  their  common  fatherland.  Pos- 
sessed of  such  ideas,  and  educating  the  younger  generation  in  such 
manners,  they  brought  to  light  such  valiant  men  in  those  who 
fought  against  the  barbarians  from  Asia,  that  no  one,  either  poet 
or  sophist,  has  ever  yet  been  able  to  speak  in  a  manner  worthy  of 
their  achievements.  And  I  can  readily  excuse  them  ;  for  it  is  just 
as  hard  to  praise  those  who  have  surpassed  the  virtues  of  other 
men  as  those  who  have  never  done  anything  good  ;  for  whereas 
the  latter  have  no  deeds  to  support  them,  the  former  have  no  lan- 
guage befitting  them.  For  what  language  could  be  commensurate 
with  the  deeds  of  men  who  were  so  far  superior  to  those  who  made 
the  expedition  against  Troy,  that,  while  they  spent  ten  years  against 
one  city,  those  men  in  a  short  time  defeated  the  whole  might  of 
Asia,  and  not  only  saved  their  own  countries  but  also  liberated  the 
whole  of  Hellas  .''  And  what  deeds  or  toils  or  dangers  would  they 
have  shrunk  from  attempting  in  order  to  win  living  reputations, 
when  they  were  so  readily  willing  to  lose  their  lives  for  the  sake 
of  a  posthumous  fame  .''  And  I  even  think  that  the  war  must  have 
been  contrived  by  one  of  the  gods  in  admiration  of  their  valour, 
that  men  of  such  quality  should  not  remain  in  obscurity  nor  end 
their  lives  ingloriously,  but  should  be  thought  worthy  of  the  same 
rewards  as  those  children  of  the  gods  who  are  called  demi-gods  ; 
for  even  their  bodies  the  gods  rendered  up  to  the  inflexible  laws 
of  nature,  but  made  immortal  the  memory  of  their  valour. 

Now,  continuous  as  was  the  jealousy  between  our  ancestors  and 
the  Lacedaemonians,  yet  in  those  times  they  exercised  their  rivalry 
for  the  highest  objects,  considering  themselves  to  be  not  enemies 
but  competitors,  and  not  courting  the  barbarian  with  a  view  to  the 
servitude  of  Hellas,  but  having  one  aim  in  the  common  safety, 
their  only  rivalry  being  which  of  them  should  achieve  it. 


522  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

II.  The  Second  Athenian  Confederacy 

1.  FORMATION  AND   LIST  OF  ALLIES 

It  was  in  377  that  the  new  Athenian  confederacy  was  formed. 
A  large  slab  made  up  of  many  fragments  contains  the  text  and 
an  incomplete  list  of  the  allies. 

Hicks  atid  Hili,  i  o  i 

New  Athenian  Confederacy,  b.c.  377 

In  the  archonship  of  Nausinicus. 

Callibius  son  of  Cephisophon  of  Paeania  was  secretary. 

In  the  seventh  prytany,  of  Hippothontis,  voted  by  the  senate 
and  people.  Charinus  of  Athmone  was  president,  Aristoteles 
moved  :  —  To  the  Good  Fortune  of  the  Athenians  and  the  allies 
of  Athens  :  In  order  that  the  Spartans  may  allow  the  Greeks  free 
and  autonomous,  holding  their  lands  in  fixity  of  tenure.  .  . 

Voted  by  the  people  :  If  any  of  the  Hellenes  or  the  barbarians 
inhabiting  the  coasts,  or  the  islanders,  (whichever  are  not  subjects 
of  the  Great  King),  wishes  to  be  an  ally  of  the  Athenians  and 
their  allies,  it  shall  be  permitted  him,  if  he  be  free  and  autono- 
mous, to  live  under  whatever  form  of  constitution  he  wishes,  neither 
receiving  any  garrison  there  nor  placed  under  any  magistrate  nor 
contributing  any  tribute,  on  the  same  terms  as  the  Chians  and  the 
Thebans  and  the  other  allies. 

To  those  who  made  an  alliance  with  Athens  and  her  allies  the 
people  are  to  hand  over  the  settlements  whatever  they  chance  to 
be,  whether  private  ones  or  those  of  the  Athenian  state,  in  the 
country  of  those  who  make  the  alliance,  and  about  these  the  Athe- 
nians are  to  give  a  pledge  ;  but  if  there  happen  to  be  at  Athens 
any  stelae  concerning  the  states  entering  into  alliance  with  Athens, 
that  are  inappropriate  [i.e.,  uncomplimentary],  the  existing  senate 
shall  have  power  to  take  them  down.  After  the  archonship  of 
Nausinicus  it  shall  not  be  permitted  either  to  an  individual  or  to 
the  Athenian  people  to  acquire  property  in  the  lands  of  the  allies, 
either  house  or  estate,  either  by  purchase  or  mortgage  or  in  any 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  523 

other  way ;  and  if  anyone  buys  or  gets  or  takes  on  mortgage  in 
any  way  whatsoever,  it  shall  be  possible  for  anyone  of  the  allies 
that  wishes,  to  report  it  to  the  councillors  of  the  allies  ;  and  the 
councillors  shall  sell  the  property,  give  over  half  the  proceeds  to 
the  informer,  and  the  other  half  shall  go  to  the  common  fund  of 
the  allies. 

But  if  anyone  wage  war  by  land  or  by  sea  against  those  who 
have  made  the  alliance,  the  Athenians  shall  help  to  the  best  of 
their  ability  both  on  land  and  sea. 

If  anyone,  magistrate  or  private  citizen,  move  or  put  a  motion 
to  vote  against  this  decree,  that  any  of  its  provisions  should  be 
broken,  he  shall  lose  his  civil  rights  and  his  property  be  confiscated 
and  a  tithe  be  given  to  the  Goddess,  and  he  shall  be  tried  by  the 
Athenians  and  allies  on  the  charge  of  breaking  the  alliance,  and 
they  shall  condemn  him  to  death  or  exile  from  the  lands  held  by 
Athens  and  her  allies  ;  but  if  he  be  condemned  to  death,  he  shall 
not  be  buried  in  Attica  or  the  allies'  lands. 

The  secretary  of  the  senate  shall  have  this  decree  inscribed  on 
a  stone  stele  and  set  up  by  the  Zeus  of  Freedom  ;  the  treasurers 
of  the  Goddess  are  to  give  for  the  inscription  of  the  stele  sixty 
drachmas  out  of  the  ten  talents. 

And  on  this  stele  shall  be  written  the  name  of  those  cities  now 
forming  the  alliance  and  any  other  one  that  may  become  an  ally. 

These  matters  are  to  be  inscribed  ;  and  the  people  are  to  choose 
at  once  three  ambassadors  to  go  to  Thebes  to  persuade  the  Thebans 
to  whatever  favorable  action  they  may. 

These  were  chosen  : 

Aristoteles  of  Marathon 
Pyrrhander  of  Anaphlystus 
Thrasybulus  of  Collytus 

These  cities  are  allies  of  the  Athenians  :  Chians,  Tenedians, 
Mitylenians,  Methymnaeans,  Rhodians,  Poeessians,  Byzantines, 
Perinthians,  Peparethians,  Sciathians,  Maronita^,  Dians,  Parians, 

.  .  . ,  Athenitans,  P ,  Thebans,  Chalcidians,  Eretrians,  Arethu- 

sians,  Carystians,  Icians,  Pall .  .  . 


524  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

The  people  of  the  Corcyraeans,  Abderitans,  Thasians,  Chalcid- 
ians  from  Thrace,  ^Enians,  Samothracians,  DicaeopoHtans,  Acar- 
nanians,  Pronni  of  the  Cephallenians,  Alcetas,  Neoptolemus, 
lason,  the  Andrians,  Tenians,  Hestiaeans,  Myconians,  Antissaeans, 
Eresians,  Astraeusians,  luhetae  of  Ceos,  Carthaeans,  Coresians, 
Elaeusians,  Amorgans,  Selymbrians,  Siphnians,  Sicinetans,  Dians 
from  Thrace,  NeopoHtans,  the  people  of  Zacynthus  in  the  Nellus, 

A  separate  alliance  was  made  the  same  year  with  Chalcis  in 
Euboea,  It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  tone  of  this  with  the 
decree  of  446.    (See  above,  pp.  270-272.) 

Hicks  and  Hill,  102 

Athens  and  Chalcis,  b.c.  377 

Aristoteles  son  of  Euphiletus  of  Acharnas  was  secretary. 
In  the  archonship  of  Nausinicus. 

Voted  by  the  senate  and  people.  Leontis  was  the  prytanizing 
tribe,  Aristoteles  secretary,  Pantaretus  one  of  the  presidents  put 
it  to  vote,   Pyrrhander  moved  : 

Concerning  the  matters  which  the  Chalcidians  mention,  that  they 
be  brought  before  the  assembly  at  the  next  meeting  and  be  made 
acquainted  with  the  decision  of  the  senate,  namely :  That  the  senate 
has  decided  to  accept  the  alliance  of  the  Chalcidians  for  good  for- 
tune in  accordance  with  the  terms  offered  by  Chalcis ;  and  that  the 
city  swear  an  oath  to  the  Chalcidians  and  the  Chalcidians  to  the 
Athenians,  and  that  the  oath  and  the  terms  be  inscribed  on  a  stone 
stele  and  set  up  in  Athens  on  the  Acropolis  and  in  Chalcis  in  the 
precinct  of  Athene,  and  that  these  be  the  agreements  between 
Athens  and  Chalcis  : 

Alliance  of  the  Chalcidians  in  Euboea  and  the  Athenians  : 

That  the  Chalcidians  being  free  and  independent  retain  posses- 
sion of  their  own  (territory  .?)...  having  no  garrison  from  Athens 
and  paying  no  tribute  and  receiving  no  governor  contrary  to  the 
decision  of  the  allies.  And  if  anyone  begin  a  war  against  the 
country.   ... 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  525 

Even  earlier  than  this  some  advances  had  been  made,  notably 
the  negotiations  with  Clazomenae  and  the  treaty  with  Chios.  Hicks 
and  Hill  say  that  this  latter  alliance  was  the  first  step  toward  the 
new  confederacy. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  96 

Athens  and  Clazomen^,  b.c.  387 

Theodotus  was  archon,  Paramythus  son  of  Philager  of  Erchia 
was  secretary. 

Voted  by  the  people.  Theodotus  was  archon,  Cecropis  the 
prytanizing  tribe,  Paramythus  secretary,  Daiphron  in  the  chair. 
Poliager  moved  : 

That  the  people  of  Clazomenae  be  commended,  because  of  their 
good  will  to  the  city  of  Athens  both  now  and  in  former  time.  And 
concerning  the  matters  under  discussion,  that  it  be  voted,  that  if 
the  Clazomenians  pay  the  five  per  cent  tax  levied  in  the  time  of 
Thrasybulus,  they  shall  have  full  power  about  the  treaties  or  lack 
of  treaties  as  regards  those  from  Chyton,  and  over  the  hostages 
which  the  Clazomenians  have  from  Chyton  ;  and  that  the  Athe- 
nians shall  neither  restore  any  exiles  without  the  consent  of  the 
Clazomenians  nor  drive  out  any  of  those  who  remain. 

Regarding  administration  and  a  garrison :  the  [present]  assembly 
is  to  decide  at  once  by  show  of  hands  whether  they  shall  place  one 
in  Clazomenae  or  whether  the  Clazomenians  shall  have  power  to 
decide  whether  they  will  have  a  garrison  or  not. 

Regarding  those  cities  whence  Clazomenae  gets  its  supply  of 
corn  .  .  .  Smyrna,  the  treaty  shall  allow  them  to  sail  into  the  har- 
bors, and  the  generals  .  .  .  are  to  see  that  the  treaties  shall  be  the 
same  for  the  Clazomenians  and  the  Athenians  against  the  enemy. 

The  assembly  voted  that  Clazomenae  should  not  pay  taxes  or 
receive  a  garrison  or  governor,  but  be  free  in  relation  to  Athens. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  98 

Treaty  with  Chios,  b.c.  388 

.  .  .  these  things  ...  of  the  common  agreements  ...  to  the 
Greeks,  remember  to  keep,  just  as  the  Athenians  kept  it,  the  peace 
and  friendship  and  oaths  and  existing  agreements  which  the  King 


526  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

and  the  Athenians  and  the  Lacedaemonians  and  the  other  Hellenes 
swore  to,  and  have  come  promising  benefits  to  the  Athenians  and 
to  all  Hellas  and  to  the  King;  be  it  voted  by  the  people:  To  com- 
mend the  people  of  Chios  and  the  ambassadors  who  have  come, 
and  that  the  peace  and  the  oaths  and  the  agreements  now  existing 
continue,  and  that  the  Chians  be  made  allies,  free  and  autonomous, 
if  they  do  not  overstep  any  of  the  provisions  about  the  peace  in- 
scribed on  the  steles  and  to  the  best  of  their  ability  refuse  to  be 
persuaded,  even  if  any  other  break  them  ;  and  that  a  stele  be  set 
up  on  the  Acropolis  in  front  of  the  statue  and  on  it  inscribed  "  If 
anyone  attack  the  Athenians  the  Chians  shall  help  them  to  the 
best  of  their  ability,  and  if  anyone  attack  the  Chians  the  Athenians 
shall  do  the  same,"  and  that  the  senate  and  the  generals  and  the 
taxiarchs  administer  the  oath  to  the  Chians  who  have  come,  but 
in  Chios  let  the  senate  and  the  other  magistrates  give  it ;  and  five 
men  shall  be  chosen  to  go  to  Chios  and  put  the  city  under  oath. 
The  alliance  is  to  last  to  all  time.  The  embassy  of  the  Chians 
shall  be  entertained  in  the  prytaneum  to-morrow. 

These  ambassadors  were  chosen  :  Cephalus  of  Collytus, 

of  Alopece,  yEsimus  ,  of  Phrearrhii,  Democlides 


These  were  the  Chian ambassadors:  Bryon,Ape ,  critus, 

Archelas. 

2.  ALLIANCE  WITH   CORCYRA 
Two  Other  inscriptions  add  Corcyra  and  some  of  her  neighbors 
to  the  federation. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  105 

The  Alliance,  b.c.  375 

Philocles  ,   .  .  v/as  secretary. 

In  the  archonship  of  Hippodamas,  in  the  second  prytany,  of 
Antiochis,  in  which  Philocles  .   .   .  was  secretary  : 
.  Voted  by  the  senate  and  people.    Critius  moved  :  — 

With  reference  to  the  matters  which  the  ambassadors  of  the 
Corcyrseans  and  the  Acarnanians  and  the  Cephallenians  reported  in 
the  senate.  That  we  commend  the  ambassadors  of  the  Corcyrasans 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  527 

and  Acarnanians  and  Cephallenians,  in  that  they  have  deserved 
well  of  the  Athenians  and  their  allies  both  now  and  in  former 
time  ;  and  in  order  that  that  which  they  ask  may  be  done,  that 
they  be  taken  before  the  assembly,  and  that  the  decision  of  the 
senate  be  reported  to  them,  to  the  effect  that  it  has  decreed  to 
have  the  secretary  inscribe  the  names  of  those  cities  which  have 
come,  upon  the  common  stele  of  the  allies,  and  that  the  senate  and 
the  generals  and  the  knights  give  their  oath  to  the  cities  present, 
and  that  the  allies  take  the  same  oath. 

And  when  this  has  been  done  ...  in  accordance  with  what  seems 
best  to  the  allies  in  common,  to  send  men  to  administer  the  oaths 
.  .  .  for  the  purpose  of  inscribing  [them  ?]  on  the  common  stele  ^ 
where  the  allies  have  been  enrolled  ;  and  that  each  of  the  cities 
send  representatives  to  the  council  of  allies  in  accordance  with  the 
decrees  of  the  allies  and  the  Athenians,  About  the  Acarnanians 
they  are  to  consult  in  common  with  /Eschylus  and  Evarchus  and 
Eury . 

Epitaph  in  Hicks  and  mil,  p.  211,  may  refer  to  this. 

Here  the  earth  received  in  a  grave  Thersander  and  Simylon, 
men  longed-for  by  their  native  land  Corcyra  :  they  came  as  am- 
bassadors and  the  chance  of  death  having  overcome  them,  the 
sons  of  Athens  buried  them  with  due  honor  at  public  expense. 

Hicks  at  id  Hill,  106 

Athens  and  Corcyra,  b.c.  375-374 

Alliance  of  the  Corcyrasans  and  Athenians  for  all  time. 

If  anyone  wage  war  upon  the  land  of  the  Corcyraeans  or  upon 
the  people  of  Corcyra,  the  Athenians  shall  help  them  by  all  means 
in  their  power,  in  accordance  with  what  the  Corcyraeans  demand  ; 
and  if  anyone  wage  war  on  the  people  of  Athens  or  their  country 
by  land  or  sea,  the  Corcyraeans  shall  help  them  to  the  best  of  their 
ability  in  accordance  with  the  demands  of  the  Athenians.  The 
Corcyraeans  shall  not  make  war  or  peace  without  the  Athenians 
and  the  majority  of  the  allies  ;  they  shall  act  in  other  matters  too 
in  accord  with  the  will  of  the  allies. 

1  Another  restoration  of  the  badly  broken  text  of  this  line  and  the  three  preceding  is 
given  in  Hicks  and  Hill,  p.  210. 


528  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Oath  of  Athenians 

I  will  help  the  people  of  Corcyra  With  all  my  might  and  main 
if  anyone  makes  war  on  their  country  by  land  or  sea,  according  to 
the  demands  of  the  Corcyraeans  ;  and  in  the  matter  of  war  and 
peace  I  shall  act  in  accordance  with  the  decision  of  the  majority 
of  the  allies,  and  also  in  other  matters. 

This  I  shall  do,  by  Zeus  and  Apollo  and  Demeter ;  and  may  I 
have  many  blessings  if  I  keep  my  oath  :  otherwise,  the  opposite. 

Oath  of  Corcvr/EAns 

(The  same,  except  in  Doric  dialect.) 

Xenophon  describes  the  expedition  to  Corcyra  under  the  able 
leadership  of  Timotheus,  son  of  Conon. 

Xenophon,  Helletiica,  V,  iv,  64-66 

Timotheus  in  his  cruise  reached  Corcyra,  and  reduced  it  at  a 
blow.  That  done,  he  neither  enslaved  the  inhabitants  nor  drove 
them  into  exile,  nor  changed  their  laws.  And  of  this  conduct  he 
reaped  the  benefit  in  the  increased  cordiality  of  all  the  cities  of 
those  parts.  The  Lacedaemonians  thereupon  fitted  out  and  de- 
spatched a  counter  fleet,  with  Nicolochus  in  command,  an  officer 
of  consummate  boldness.  This  admiral  no  sooner  caught  sight  of 
Timotheus's  fleet  than  without  hesitation,  and  in  spite  of  the  ab- 
sence of  six  Ambraciot  vessels  which  formed  part  of  his  squadron, 
he  gave  battle,  with  fifty-five  ships  to  the  enemy's  sixty.  The  result 
was  a  defeat  at  the  moment,  and  Timotheus  set  up  a  trophy  at  Alyzia. 
But  as  soon  as  the  six  missing  Ambraciot  vessels  had  reinforced  him 
—  the  ships  of  Timotheus  meanwhile  being  docked  and  undergoing 
repairs  —  he  bore  down  upon  Alyzia  in  search  of  the  Athenian, 
and  as  Timotheus  refused  to  put  out  to  meet  him,  the  Lacedae- 
monian in  his  turn  set  up  a  trophy  on  the  nearest  group  of  islands. 

B.C.  374,  Timotheus,  after  repairing  his  original  squadron  and 
manning  more  vessels  from  Corcyra,  found  himself  at  the  head  of 
more  than  seventy  ships.  His  naval  superiority  was  undisputed, 
but  he  was  forced  to  send  to  Athens  for  moneys,  seeing  his  fleet 
was  large  and  his  wants  not  trifling. 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  529 

3.  FOREIGN  RELATIONS 
Besides  undertaking  an  expedition  to  Corcyra,  Timotheus  was 
busily  occupied  in  the  north,  about  Chalcidice  and  the  Macedonian 
coast.    Menelaus,  one  of  the  local  chiefs,  seems  to  have  given  him 
valuable  assistance. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  117 

Menelaus  helps  Timotheus  in  Chalcidice,  b.c.  363-362 

Menelaus  the  Pelagonian,  Benefactor. 

In  the  archonship  of  Chariclides,  in  the  sixth  prytany,  of  QEneis. 

Voted  by  the  senate  and  people.  Qineis  was  the  prytanizing 
tribe,  Nicostratus  secretary,  Charicles  of  Leuconoe  was  president, 
Satyrus  moved  : 

Whereas  Timotheus  the  general  has  shown  that  Menelaus  the 
Pelagonian  personally  helped  him  in  the  war  and  furnished  money 
for  the  war  against  Chalcidice  and  Amphipolis,  be  it  voted  by  the 
senate  to  introduce  him  to  the  people  at  the  next  meeting  and  to 
communicate  to  the  people  the  decision  of  the  senate,  namely :  — 
To  praise  him  since  he  is  a  good  man  and  benefits  the  people  of 
Athens  to  the  best  of  his  ability;  and  the  generals  who  are  around 
Macedonia  shall  look  out  for  him,  that  in  case  he  wants  anything 
he  shall  have  it ;  and  that  he  may  also  find  at  the  hands  of  the 
people  whatever  other  benefit  he  desires ;  and  that  Menelaus  be 
invited  to  the  prytaneum  to-morrow  as  a  guest  of  the  state. 

Satyrus  moved  the  following  amendment :  Whereas  the  ances- 
tors of  Menelaus  were  benefactors  of  the  Athenian  people,  Mene- 
laus shall  be  declared  a  benefactor  too. 

It  was  a  distinct  triumph  for  the  Athenians  to  win  over  to  their 
side  Dionysius  I  of  Syracuse,  Sparta's  ally. 

Two  decrees,  friendly  and  cordial  in  tone,  bear  witness  to  this. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  108 

Honors  from  Athens  to  Dionysius  I  of  Syracuse,  b.c  369-368 
In  the  archonship  of  Lysistratus,  in  the  tenth  prytany,  of  Erech- 

theis  in  which  Execestus  son  of  Pasonides  of  Azenia  was  secretary, 

Evangelus  was  president.   ... 


530  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

Pandias  moved  :  About  the  matters  which  the  embassy  from 
Dionysius  came  to  discuss,  be  it  decreed  by  the  senate  as  follows  : 
—  That  the  allies  report  to  the  people  the  decision,  whatever  may 
seem  to  be  best  to  them  on  due  consideration,  about  the  letters 
which  Dionysius  sent  concerning  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  and 
about  the  peace  :  the  presidents  are  to  summon  and  invite  the  en- 
voys and  the  allies  before  the  people  at  the  next  assembly  and  con- 
fer about  the  matter  and  communicate  the  decision  of  the  senate 
to  the  people  :  To  commend  Dionysius  the  ruler  of  Sicily  and  his 
sons,  Dionysius  and  Hermocritus,  since  they  have  deserved  well 
of  the  Athenians  and  their  allies  and  help  maintain  the  King's 
peace  which  the  Athenians  and  the  Lacedaemonians  and  the  other 
Greeks  have  made  ;  and  to  send  to  Dionysius  the  crown  which  the 
people  voted  him,  and  to  crown  each  of  the  sons  of  Dionysius  with 
a  golden  crown  worth  a  thousand  drachmas  on  account  of  their 
good-will  and  friendship  ;  and  Dionysius  and  his  sons  and  their 
descendants  shall  be  Athenian  citizens  of  whatever  tribe  and  deme 
and  phratry  they  wish.  And  that  the  presiding  officers  of  the  tribe 
Erechtheis  give  the  vote  about  these  matters,  .  .  . 

Hicks  and  Hill,  112 

Alliance  between  Athens  and  Dionysius,  b.c.  368-367 

In  the  archonship  of  Nausigenes,  in  the  seventh  prytany,  of 
Mantis,  Moschus  of  Cydathenaeum  was  secretary,  on  the  thirty- 
second  day  of  the  prytany, son  of  Halippus  was  the  presi- 
dent   putting    it   to    vote   .    .    .   voted  by  the    people, dius 

moved  :  — 

To  the  good  fortune  of  Athens,  Be  it  decreed  by  the  people  to 
praise  Dionysius  ruler  of  Sicily  for  his  goodness  toward  the  Athe- 
nians and  their  allies  ;  and  that  he  and  his  descendants  be  allies 
of  the  Athenians  for  all  time  on  the  following  conditions  :  If  any- 
one wage  war  on  the  territory  of  Athens  by  land  or  sea,  Dionysius 
and  his  family  are  to  help  by  land  or  sea  with  all  strength  to  the 
best  of  their  ability  in  accordance  with  the  demands  of  the  Athe- 
nians ;  and  if  anyone  attack  Dionysius  or  his  family  or  any  part 
of  his  kingdom  by  land  or  sea,  the  Athenians  are  to  help  with  all 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  531 

strength  to  the  best  of  their  abiHty  as  may  be  demanded  ;  and 
Dionysius  and  his  family  are  not  to  bear  arms  against  Athens  to 
its  detriment  either  by  land  or  sea,  nor  shall  Athens  bear  arms 
against  Dionysius  or  his  family  or  any  of  his  domains  to  their 
detriment  by  land  or  sea. 

The  ambassadors  from  Dionysius  are  to  receive  the  oath  about 
the  alliance  and  the  senators  and  generals  and  hipparchs  and  taxi- 
archs  are  to  swear ;  Dionysius  and  his  sons  and  the  Syracusan 
senate  and  .  ,  .  and  the  commandants  are  to  swear  to  it ;  these  oaths 
are  to  be  renewed  annually  (?)  by  both  sides,  and  the  Athenian 
envoys  sent  to  Sicily  shall  administer  it.  The  secretary  of  the 
senate  shall  have  the  decree  inscribed.  .   .  . 

Friendly  relations  had  already  been  reestablished  between  Athens 
and  Sparta  in  369,  and  the  following  inscription  shows  that  the 
entente  cordiale  continued. 

Hicks  and  Hill,  113 

Athens  and  Sparta,  b.c.  367 

In  the  archonship  of  Nausigenes,  in  the  seventh  prytany, 
of  Mantis,  Moschus  son  of  Thestius  of  Cydathenaeum  was 
secretary. 

Voted  by  the  senate  and  people.  yEantis  was  prytanizing  tribe, 
Paramythus  of  Otryne  presided,  Moschus  son  of  Thestius  of 
Cydathenaeum  was  secretary. 

Diophantus  moved  :  About  the  matters  on  which  the  ambassa- 
dors coming  from  Sparta  report ;  Be  it  voted  by  the  senate,  That 
the  proedri  who  happen  to  be  in  office  in  the  "assembly  consult 
about  these  matters,  and  report  what  the  senate  voted,  namely : 
That  since  Corroebus  the  Spartan  has  deserved  well  of  the  Athe- 
nian people,  both  now  and  formerly,  he  be  made  proxenos  and 
benefactor  of  the  Athenian  people,  both  himself  and  his  descend- 
ants ;  and  that  the  secretary  of  the  senate  inscribe  this  decree  on 
a  stone  stele  and  set  it  up  on  the  Acropolis.  And  for  the  cost  of 
the  inscription  let  the  treasurer  of  the  people  give  twenty  drachmas 
from  the  fund  set  apart  for  the  inscribing  of  decrees. 


532  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

III.   The  Athenian  Constitution 

1.  CONTRAST  WITH   THE  "GOOD  OLD   DAYS" 

When  we  turn  to  the  constitution  of  Athens  at  this  time,  we 
find  that  some  lamented  the  "good  old  days"  and  contrasted  them 
with  existing  conditions,  much  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  latter. 

IsocRATES,  VII  {Areopagiticus),  20-27 

Those  who  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  city  at  that  time  estab- 
lished a  constitution  that  was  not  merely  in  name  most  mild  and 
impartial,  while  in  reality  it  did  not  show  itself  such  to  those  who 
lived  under  it,  —  a  constitution  that  did  not  train  its  citizens  in 
such  a  manner  that  they  considered  license  democracy,  lawlessness 
liberty,  insolence  of  speech  equality,  and  the  power  of  acting  in 
this  manner  happiness,  but  which,  by  hating  and  punishing  men 
of  such  character,  made  all  the  citizens  better  and  more  modest. 
And  what  chiefly  assisted  them  in  managing  the  state  aright  was 
this  :  of  the  two  recognized  principles  of  equality,  the  one  assign- 
ing the  same  to  all,  the  other  their  due  to  individuals,  they  were 
not  ignorant  which  was  the  more  useful,  but  rejected  as  unjust 
that  which  considered  that  good  and  bad  had  equal  claims,  and 
preferred  that  which  honoured  and  punished  each  man  according 
to  his  deserts  ;  and  governed  the  state  on  these  principles,  not  ap- 
pointing magistrates  from  the  general  body  of  citizens  by  lot,  but 
selecting  the  best  and  most  capable  to  fill  each  office.  For  they 
hoped  that  the  rest  of  the  citizens  would  behave  themselves  like 
those  at  the  head  of  affairs.  In  the  next  place,  they  thought  that 
this  method  of  appointing  to  office  was  more  to  the  advantage  of 
the  people  than  appointment  by  lot ;  since,  in  appointing  by  lot 
chance  would  have  the  decision,  and  supporters  of  oligarchy  would 
often  obtain  offices,  while,  in  selecting  the  most  respectable  citi- 
zens, the  people  would  be  able  to  choose  those  who  were  most  fav- 
ourably disposed  towards  the  established  constitution.  And  the 
reason  why  the  majority  were  contented  with  this  arrangement  and 
why  public  offices  were  not  objects  of  contention  was,  that  they  had 
learnt  to  work  and  economize,  and  not  to  neglect  their  own  property 
while  entertaining  designs  on  that  of  others,  nor  again  to  supply 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  533 

their  own  needs  at  the  expense  of  the  pubhc  funds,  but  rather  to 
assist  the  treasury,  if  necessary,  out  of  their  own  means,  and  not 
to  have  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  income  arising  from 
pubhc  offices  than  of  that  produced  by  their  own  property.  So 
severely  did  they  keep  their  hands  off  the  state  revenues,  that  dur- 
ing those  times  it  was  harder  to  find  men  willing  to  undertake  office 
than  it  is  now  to  find  men  who  have  no  desire  for  office  at  all ;  for 
they  regarded  the  care  of  public  affairs  not  as  a  lucrative  business 
but  as  a  public  charge,  and  they  did  not  from  the  very  day  they 
took  office  consider  whether  the  former  holders  of  office  had  left 
anything  to  be  gained,  but  rather  whether  they  had  neglected  any- 
thing that  pressed  for  a  settlement.  In  short,  they  had  made  up 
their  minds  that  the  people,  like  an  absolute  master,  ought  to  con- 
trol the  public  offices,  punish  offenders  and  settle  disputed  points, 
and  that  those  who  were  able  to  enjoy  ease  and  possessed  sufficient 
means  should  attend  to  public  affairs  like  servants,  and,  if  they 
acted  justly,  should  be  praised  and  rest  contented  with  this  recogni- 
tion of  their  services,  while,  if  they  managed  affairs  badly,  they 
should  meet  with  no  mercy,  but  should  be  visited  with  the  severest 
penalties.  And  how  would  it  be  possible  to  find  a  democracy  more 
just  or  more  secure  than  one  which  set  the  most  influential  citizens 
at  the  head  of  public  affairs,  and  at  the  same  time  invested  the 
people  with  sovereign  control  over  these  same  officials  .-* 

2.  THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

Selections  from  Aristotle's  "  Constitution  of  Athens  "  describe 
the  constitution  as  it  was  when  he  knew  it.  On  the  whole,  the  close 
resemblance  to  the  fifth-century  democracy  is  strongly  marked. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XLH 

The  present  constitution  is  as  follows  :  Political  rights  belong  to 
those  whose  parents  are  citizens  on  both  sides.  When  they  are 
eighteen  years  old  they  are  enrolled  as  members  of  their  deme.  .  .  . 
When  they  have  passed  as  Ephebi  [i.e.  arrived  at  man's  estate], 
their  fathers  assemble  in  their  tribes,  and  on  oath  select  three  of 
their  tribesmen  above  forty  years  of  age,  whom  they  consider  to 


534  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

be  most  worthy  and  suitable  to  have  charge  of  the  Ephebi,  and 
from  them  the  people  votes  one  of  each  tribe,  selected  as  their 
moderator,  together  with  a  superintendent,  from  the  general  body 
of  Athenians,  to  control  the  whole.  And,  taking  charge  of  the 
Ephebi,  first  they  make  a  circuit  of  the  sacred  places,  then  they 
proceed  to  Piraeus,  and  some  of  the  Ephebi  garrison  Munychia, 
and  the  rest  the  shore.  The  people  votes  them  also  two  gymnastic- 
masters  and  teachers,  who  instruct  them  in  the  use  of  arms,  shoot- 
ing, hurling,  and  working  the  catapult.  It  gives  for  maintenance  to 
the  moderators  a  drachma  a  day  each,  and  to  the  Ephebi  four  obols 
each.  And  each  moderator,  taking  the  money  for  his  own  tribes- 
men, buys  what  is  necessary  for  all  in  common  (for  they  take  their 
meals  together  by  their  tribes),  and  provides  for  everything  else. 
They  pass  their  first  year  in  this  way.  The  next,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Assembly  in  the  theatre,  they  display  before  the  people  their 
drill-practice,  and  receiving  a  spear  and  shield  from  the  state,  patrol 
the  country  and  live  in  garrisons.  They  act  as  guards  for  their  two 
years,  wearing  cloaks,  and  have  immunity  from  all  public  burdens. 
They  are  not  allowed  either  to  bring  or  defend  an  action,  to  prevent 
their  being  connected  in  any  way  with  business,  except  in  cases  of 
inheritance  and  of  an  only  daughter  and  heiress,  or  where  a  question 
of  family  priesthood  arises.  On  the  expiry  of  the  two  years  they  at 
once  rank  with  the  rest.  Such,  then,  are  the  regulations  regarding 
the  enrolment  of  citizens  and  the  Ephebi, 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XLIII-XLVI 

They  appoint  by  lot  to  all  the  offices  belonging  to  the  ordinary 
routine  of  administration,  except  the  military  treasurer,  and  those 
who  have  charge  of  the  funds  for  seats  in  the  theatre  and  the 
superintendent  of  the  springs.  For  these  they  vote,  and  those 
who  are  appointed  hold  office  from  Panathenaea  to  Panathenasa. 
They  vote  also  all  the  offices  of  the  war  department.  And  the 
Council  is  elected  by  lot  to  the  number  of  five  hundred,  fifty  from 
each  tribe.  And  each  of  the  tribes  presides  in  turn  as  lot  may  as- 
sign, the  first  four  thirty-six  days  each,  and  the  six  last  thirty-five 
days  each  ;  for  they  reckon  the  year  by  the  moon.  The  presidents 
first  dine  together  in  the  Rotunda,  at  the  expense  of  the  state,  then 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  535 

they  assemble  the  Council  and  the  people  ;  the  Council  every  day, 
unless  there  is  a  holiday,  and  the  people  four  times  during  each 
presidency.  They  give  public  notice  of  all  matters  to  be  transacted 
by  the  Council,  and  what  is  to  be  taken  each  day,  and  what  is  not 
their  business.^  They  give  public  notice  also  of  the  meetings  of  the 
Assembly  ;  one  is  called  the  "sovereign"  Assembly  to  confirm  by 
vote  magistrates  if  they  are  thought  to  discharge  their  duties  effi- 
ciently, and  to  arrange  about  food  and  the  protection  of  the  country; 
and  for  such  as  want  to  prefer  indictments  to  bring  in  such  bills  on 
this  day,  and  to  read  out  the  registers  of  confiscations  as  well  as  the 
applications  to  the  archon  to  be  put  in  possession  in  cases  of  inherit- 
ance and  of  only  daughters  and  heiresses,  so  that  no  case  may  go 
by  default.  At  the  sixth  presidency,  in  addition  to  what  has  just 
been  stated,  the  opportunity  is  given  of  voting  whether  to  hold  a 
vote  of  ostracism  or  not,  and  of  proceeding  with  the  public  prosecu- 
tions of  common  informers,  both  Athenians  and  resident-aliens  up 
to  three  of  each,  as  well  as  cases  where  a  promise  has  been  made 
to  the  people  and  not  performed.  Another  Assembly  is  assigned 
for  supplications,  so  that  anyone  who  wants  may  propose  a  supplica- 
tion for  anything  he  likes,  either  public  or  private,  and  discuss  it  with 
the  people.  The  other  two  Assemblies  attend  to  all  other  matters, 
and  the  laws  ordain  that  at  these  meetings  proposals  should  be  con- 
sidered to  the  number  of  three  respectively  regarding  things  sacred 
•  (or  sacred  moneys),  heralds  and  embassies,  and  things  profane  (or 
public  moneys).  They  sometimes  deliberate  even  without  any  pre- 
liminary voting.  The  heralds  and  ambassadors  come  first  before  the 
presidents,  and  the  bearers  of  letters  deliver  them  into  their  hands. 
Now,  there  is  one  chief  president,  elected  by  lot ;  he  holds  office 
a  day  and  a  night,  and  it  is  not  lawful  for  the  same  man  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  a  longer  time,  or  to  be  appointed  twice.  He  keeps  the 
keys  of  the  temples,  in  which  are  deposited  the  public  moneys  and 
records,  as  well  as  the  state  seal,  and  is  obliged  to  remain  in  the 
Rotunda,  as  is  also  the  third  part  of  the  presidents  whom  he  may 
order  to  do  so.  When  the  presidents  summon  the  Council  or 
people,  he  appoints  by  lot  nine  chairmen  (proedri),  one  from  each 
tribe,  except  the  tribe  that  presides  ;  and  from  them  again  one  as 

1  Kenyon  reads  "  and  where  it  is  to  sit." 


536  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

chief  president,  and  he  passes  over  to  them  the  order  of  business. 
On  receipt  of  it  they  preserve  order,  propose  the  matters  to  be 
deliberated  on,  decide  the  votings,  and  arrange  things  generally. 
They  have  power  also  to  break  up  the  meeting.  It  is  not  lawful 
to  be  chief  president  more  than  once  in  the  year,  while  it  is  lawful 
to  be  a  chairman  (proedrus)  once  in  each  presidency.  Boards  of 
ten  of  generals  and  commanders  of  cavalry  and  of  the  other  mili- 
tary officers  of  state  are  elected  in  the  Assembly,  as  the  people  may 
determine;  these  elections  are  made  by  the  presidency  after  the 
sixth,  when  the  omens  are  favourable,  but  a  preliminary  ordinance 
must  be  passed  about  these  elections  also. 

Now  the  Council  formerly  had  power  to  punish  by  fines,  to  im- 
prison, and  to  put  to  death.  But  on  one  occasion,  as  it  was  con- 
ducting Lysimachus  to  the  executioner,  who  was  awaiting  him, 
Eukleides  of  Alopeke  took  him  out  of  their  hands,  declaring  that 
it  was  not  right  for  any  citizen  to  be  put  to  death  without  the  ver- 
dict of  a  court  of  law.  On  a  trial  being  held  in  court,  Lysimachus 
was  acquitted,  and  got  the  surname  of  "  the  man  who  escaped  the 
cudgel."  Then  the  people  deprived  the  Council  of  its  power  of 
putting  to  death  and  imprisoning  and  punishing  by  fines,  and  car- 
ried a  law  that  in  cases  where  the  Council  passed  sentences  or 
punished,  the  Thesmothetae  should  bring  the  sentences  and  pun- 
ishments before  the  court  of  justice,  and  that  the  vote  of  the  jurors 
should  be  final.  Now,  the  Council  can  try  most  of  the  officers  of 
state,  particularly  such  as  have  the  management  of  money ;  but 
their  decision  is  not  final,  and  there  is  an  appeal  to  the  court  of 
justice.  Private  individuals  also  have  the  right  of  indicting  any 
officers  of  state  they  like  for  violating  the  laws,  while  such  as  are 
so  indicted  have  also  an  appeal  to  the  court  of  justice,  if  the  Coun- 
cil finds  them  guilty.  It  examines  also  the  members  who  are  to 
compose  the  Council  for  the  following  year,  and  the  nine  archons. 
Formerly  it  had  the  power  of  rejection,  but  now  in  such  cases  there 
is  an  appeal  to  the  court  of  justice.  In  the  above  matters  then  the 
Council  does  not  possess  final  authority.  However,  it  submits  pre- 
liminary ordinances  to  the  people,  and  it  is  not  lawful  for  the  peo- 
ple to  pass  any  measure  which  has  not  been  thus  submitted,  or  of 
which  the  presidents  have  not  previously  given  public  notice.    For 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  537 

it  is  on  these  very  grounds  that  the  successful  mover  of  a  bill 
makes  himself  liable  to  an  indictment  for  proposing  unconstitutional 
measures. 

It  superintends  also  the  triremes,  their  equipment  and  their 
docks,  and  has  new  ships  built,  triremes  or  quadriremes,  whichever 
the  people  votes,  and  equipment  for  them  and  docks.  But  the 
people  votes  designers  for  the  vessels.  And  if  they  fail  to  hand 
over  these  quite  complete  to  the  new  Council,  the  old  Council  can- 
not get  the  customary  present,  which  they  normally  get  during  the 
following  Council.  It  builds  the  triremes,  choosing  ten  constructors 
out  of  the  whole  body.  It  examines  also  all  public  buildings,  and  if 
it  decides  that  any  wrong  has  been  committed,  it  makes  a  present- 
ment to  the  people  against  the  offender,  and  if  it  finds  him  guilty, 
hands  him  over  to  a  court  of  justice. 

It  assists  also  in  the  management  of  all  the  remaining  offices 
for  the  most  part. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  XLIX 

Further,  the  Council  holds  a  muster  of  the  horses,  and  if  anyone 
having  the  means  is  found  to  keep  his  horse  badly,  it  fines  him  in 
its  keep. 

Aristotle,  Constitutioji  of  Athens,  L 

Ten  officers  are  appointed  by  lot  to  keep  the  temples  in  repair, 
and  they  expend  the  thirty  minae  assigned  by  the  receivers  in  re- 
pairing such  as  most  require  it.  Ten  city  magistrates  are  similarly 
appointed,  of  whom  five  exercise  their  office  in  Piraeus  and  five  in 
the  city. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  LI 

Clerks  of  the  market  are  also  appointed  by  lot,  five  for  Piraeus 
and  five  for  the  city.  Their  duty,  as  prescribed  by  law,  is  to  see 
that  commodities  of  all  descriptions  are  sold  pure  and  unadul- 
terated. Appointed  by  lot  also  are  the  inspectors  of  weights  and 
measures,  five  for  the  city  and  five  for  Piraeus  ;  they  look  after 
measures  and  weights  of  all  kinds,  that  sellers  may  use  just  ones. 
The  corn-watchers  appointed  by  lot  used  to  be  five  for  Piraeus  and 
five  for  the  city,  but  now  there  are  twenty  for  the  city  and  fifteen 


538  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

for  Piraeus.  They  take  measures  to  ensure,  first,  that  the  white 
(unprepared)  corn  in  the  market  shall  be  offered  for  sale  on  fair 
terms,  then  that  the  millers  shall  sell  their  meal  at  prices  based 
on  the  cost  of  the  barley,  and  bakers  their  bread  at  prices  based 
on  the  cost  of  the  wheat,  and  of  the  weight  that  they  fix ;  for  the 
law  commands  them  to  fix  it.  They  appoint  by  lot  ten  superin- 
tendents of  the  market,  and  their  duty  is  to  superintend  the  markets, 
and  of  the  corn  that  is  imported  into  the  corn-market  to  compel 
the  merchants  to  bring  two-thirds  into  the  city. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  LI  I 

They  appoint  the  Eleven  also  by  lot  to  look  after  prisoners,  and 
in  the  case  of  thieves  and  kidnappers  and  footpads  v/ho  are  com- 
mitted to  prison,  if  they  confess,  to  punish  them  with  death  ;  but 
if  they  demand  a  trial,  to  bring  them  before  the  court  of  justice, 
and  if  they  are  acquitted  to  let  them  go,  but  if  not,  to  put  them  to 
death  at  once.  They  also  have  to  produce  before  the  court  the  in- 
ventories of  the  lands  and  houses  claimed  as  state-property,  and  to 
deliver  over  to  the  government-sellers  what  is  decided  to  be  con- 
fiscated, and  to  prefer  the  indictments  ;  for  this  last  is  the  duty 
of  the  Eleven,  except^  that  in  some  cases  it  devolves  on  the 
Thesmothetse. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  LIII 

They  appoint  by  lot  also  forty,  four  from  each  tribe,  before  whom 
parties  bring  all  other  suits.  .  .  .  Cases  up  to  ten  drachmae  they 
have  full  power  to  decide,  but  such  as  are  above  this  amount  they 
pass  over  to  the  arbitrators. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  LIV 

They  appoint  also  by  lot  the  following  officers  :  Five  surveyors 
of  roads,  who  have  public  workmen  assigned  to  them,  and  whose 
duty  it  is  to  keep  the  roads  in  repair ;  and  ten  auditors  with  ten 
advocates  to  assist  them.  .  .  ,  They  appoint  also  by  lot  an  officer 
who  is  called  the  secretary  for  the  presidency,  and  has  charge  of 
all  public  documents,  and  keeps  the  decrees  that  are  passed,  and 
checks  all  official  papers,  and  sits  with  the  Council.  Now,  in  former 
times  he  was  elected  by  vote,  and  men  of  the  highest  distinction 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  539 

and  character  used  to  be  appointed  to  the  office ;  for  his  name  is 
inscribed  on  pillars,  attached  to  treaties  of  alliance  and  grants  of 
consulship,  and  citizenship  ;  but  now  the  election  is  made  by  lot. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens^  LV 

,  .  .  Now  as  to  those  who  have  the  title  of  the  nine  archons,  an 
account  has  been  already  given  of  how  they  were  appointed  at  first. 
But  now  they  appoint  by  lot  six  Thesmothetae  and  a  secretary  for 
them,  and  further,  an  archon  and  king  and  commander-in-chief 
severally  from  each  tribe. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  LVI 

The  archon  and  king  and  commander-in-chief  take  assessors, 
two  each,  whomever  they  like  ;  these  are  examined  in  the  court 
before  they  can  act,  and  after  appointment  are  responsible  for  their 
official  conduct. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  LIX 

To  the  Thesmothetae  belongs  first  the  right  of  publicly  notifying 
on  what  days  the  courts  of  law  are  to  sit,  and  then  of  assigning 
them  to  the  magistrates  ;  for  as  they  assign,  the  magistrates  must 
use  them.  Further,  they  bring  before  the  people  all. bills  of  indict- 
ment and  condemnations  by  show  of  hands,  and  votes  directing 
public  prosecutions,  and  indictments  for  proposing  unconstitutional 
measures  and  bad  laws,  and  the  audits  of  the  chairmen  (proedri) 
and  chief  president  of  the  Council,  and  of  the  generals.  .  .  .  They 
introduce  also  the  examinations  for  all  offices  of  state,  and  the  re- 
jected candidates  for  membership  in  the  deme,  and  condemnations 
by  the  Council.  They  introduce  also  private  suits,  concerned  with 
trade  and  mines,  or  where  a  slave  has  slandered  a  freeman.  They 
assign  by  lot  to  the  magistrates  all  their  courts,  both  public  and  pri- 
vate. They  ratify  international  contracts  with  the  subject  cities,  and 
bring  in  the  suits  arising  from  them  ;  they  also  bring  up  cases  of 
false  evidence  in  the  Areopagus.  And  the  nine  archons,  together 
with  the  secretary  of  the  Thesmothetae,  appoint  by  lot  all  the  jurors, 
each  those  of  his  own  tribe.  Such  then  are  the  duties  of  the  nine 
archons. 


540  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  LX 

They  appoint  also  by  lot  ten  directors  of  games,  one  from 
each  tribe. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  LXI 

They  elect  by  vote  also  to  all  offices,  without  exception,  con- 
nected with  the  war  department,  the  generals  in  former  times  be- 
ing elected  one  from  each  tribe,  but  now  from  all.  They  assign 
them  their  duties  by  vote,  appointing  one  to  the  command  of  the 
hoplites,  who  leads  the  members  of  his  deme  if  they  go  on  foreign 
service;  one  in  defense  of  the  country,  who  protects  it,  and,  if 
war  breaks  out  in  it,  takes  part  in  the  war ;  two  in  command 
of  Piraeus,  the  one  for  Munychia,  the  other  for  the  shore,  who 
have  charge  of  the  defense  and  matters  in  the  Piraeus ;  and  one 
to  the  command  of  the  symmoriae  [companies,  consisting  of  sixty 
members  each,  of  the  twelve  hundred  wealthiest  citizens],  who 
makes  out  the  list  of  those  who  have  to  fit  out  a  trireme  for  the 
public  service,  and  allows  them  challenges,  and  brings  into  court 
their  cases  for  adjudication  ;  the  rest  they  commission  according 
to  circumstances. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  LXII 

Now  the  officers  of  state  appointed  by  lot  were  in  former  times 
those  so  appointed,  together  with  the  nine  archons,  from  the  whole 
tribe,  and  the  election  of  the  officers  now  appointed  in  the  Theseum 
was  distributed  among  the  demes  ;  but  since  the  demes  used  to 
sell  these  offices,  they  have  elected  them  also  by  lot  from  the  whole 
tribe,  except  the  members  of  the  Council  and  the  guards,  who  are 
still  left  to  the  demes.  They  receive  pay  first  for  the  ordinary  as- 
semblies a  drachma,  but  for  the  "  sovereign  "  assembly  a  drachma 
and  a  half ;  then  in  the  courts  three  obols ;  then  the  Council  five 
obols.  The  presidents  receive  an  allowance  of  an  obol  for  their 
maintenance.  The  nine  archons  receive  for  maintenance  four  obols 
each,  and  maintain  besides  a  herald  and  a  flute-player,  while  the 
governor  of  Salamis  receives  a  drachma  a  day.  The  directors  of 
games  dine  in  the  Prytaneum  during  the  month  of  Hecatombaeon, 
in  which  the  Panathenasa  are  celebrated,  beginning  on  the  fourth 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  541 

of  the  month.  The  Amphictyones  who  are  sent  to  Delos  receive 
a  drachma  a  day  from  the  funds  of  Delos  ;  and  the  magistrates 
who  are  commissioned  to  Samos,  Scyros,  Lemnos  or  Imbros  re- 
ceive in  every  case  money  for  their  maintenance.  It  is  allowable 
to  hold  military  offices  several  times,  but  not  a  single  other  one, 
except  that  you  may  be  twice  a  member  of  the  Council. 

Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  LXIII 

The  nine  archons  elect  by  lot  the  jurors  for  the  courts  by  tribes, 
while  the  secretary  to  the  Thesmothetas  elects  from  the  tenth  tribe. 
The  entrances  into  the  courts  are  ten,  one  for  each  tribe ;  the  ballot- 
ing-urns  twenty,  two  for  each  tribe ;  and  the  boxes  a  hundred,  ten 
for  each  tribe ;  there  are  ten  other  boxes  besides,  in  which  are  cast 
the  tablets  of  the  jurors  on  whom  the  lot  falls.  And  two  balloting- 
urns  and  staves  are  placed  at  each  entrance  for  each  juror,  and 
tickets  are  put  in  the  urn  to  the  number  of  the  staves,  and  on  them 
are  written  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  beginning  from  the  eleventh 
(/),  corresponding  in  number  to  the  courts  that  are  to  be  supplied 
with  jurors.  Anyone  above  thirty  years  of  age  may  serve,  who  is 
not  a  debtor  to  the  state  and  has  not  suffered  deprivation  of  politi- 
cal rights ;  but  if  anyone  serves  who  has  not  the  right  to  do  so  he 
is  indicted  in  the  court,  and  if  found  guilty,  the  jurors  inflict  upon 
him  such  punishment  or  penalty  as  he  seems  to  deserve.  If  he  is 
fined,  he  must  remain  in  prison  till  he  has  paid  the  former  debt  on 
account  of  which  he  was  indicted,  and  any  additional  fine  that  the 
court  may  impose.  Each  juror  has  a  tablet  made  of  boxwood,  on 
which  is  inscribed  his  own  name,  with  his  father's  and  his  deme, 
and  one  of  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  up  to  k ;  for  the  jurors  are 
distributed  by  tribes  into  ten  groups,  and  are  about  equal  in  number 
for  each  letter.  After  the  Thesmothetes  has  drawn  lots  assigning 
the  letters  to  the  courts,  the  attendant  puts  up  on  each  court  the 
letter  which  has  been  drawn. 

One  of  the  most  delicious  comedies  ever  written  is  Aristophanes 's 
"  Ecclesiazusae,"  or  "'  The  Women  in  Parliament." 

The  women  do  not  find  the  government  of  Athens  to  their  lik- 
ing, so  they  form  a  plan  of  dressing  up  like  men,  stealing  their 


542  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

husbands'  clothes  while  they  are  asleep,  putting  on  false  beards, 
and  stealing  out  to  the  assembly,  which  meets  at  daybreak.  Their 
purpose  is  to  introduce  a  new  lot  of  laws  embodying  the  reforms 
they  are  so  anxious  to  bring  in.  The  modernity  of  the  whole 
thing  and  the  types  represented  —  the  "  woman's  rights  "  advocate, 
the  suffragette,  the  socialist,  the  unpractical  reformer  —  render 
the  satire  easily  comprehensible  to  us  of  the  present  day,^ 

The  play  opens  with  a  street  scene  in  front  of  Praxagora's  house, 
out  of  which  she  steals. 

The  apostrophe  to  the  lamp  is  a  parody  of  some  of  the  prologues 
of  Euripides. 

Aristophanes,  The  Women  in  Parliament,  1-50 

Praxagora.    O  glowing  visage  of  the  earthen  lamp, 
On  this  conspicuous  eminence  well-hung,  — 
(For  through  thy  fates  and  lineage  will  we  go. 
Thou,  who,  by  whirling  wheel  of  potter  moulded, 
Dost  with  thy  nozzle  do  the  sun's  bright  duty)  — 
Awake  the  appointed  signal  of  the  flame  ! 
Thou  only  knowest  it,  and  rightly  thou. 
For  thou  alone,  within  our  chambers  standing, 
Watchest  unblamed  the  mysteries  of  love. 
Thine  eye,  inspector  of  our  amorous  sports, 
Beholdeth  all,  and  no  one  saith  Begone! 
Thou  comest,  singeing,  purifying  all 
The  dim  recesses  which  none  else  may  see ; 
And  when  the  garners,  stored  with  corn  and  wine. 
By  stealth  we  open,  thou  dost  stand  beside  us. 
And  though  thou  knowest  all  this,  thou  dost  not  peach. 
Therefore  our  plans  will  we  confide  to  thee. 
What  at  the  vScira  we  resolved  to  do. 
Ah,  but  there  's  no  one  here  who  should  be  here. 

1  Those  who  can  avail  themselves  of  the  excellent  notes  in  Rogers's  edition  are  advised 
to  do  so. 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  543 

Yet  doth  it  draw  towards  daybreak  ;  and  the  Assembly 
Full  soon  will  meet ;  and  we  frail  womankind 
Must  take"  the  seats  Phyromachus  assigned  us 
(You  don't  forget  ?)  and  not  attract  attention. 
What  can  the  matter  be  ?    Perchance  their  beards 
Are  not  stitched  on,  as  our  decree  commanded, 
Perchance  they  found  it  difficult  to  steal 
Their  husband's  garments.    Stay  !   I  see  a  lamp 
Moving  this  way.    I  will  retire  and  watch. 
Lest  it  should  haply  be  some  man  approaching ! 

First  Woman.    It  is  the  hour  to  start.    As  I  was  coming 
I  heard  the  herald  give  his  second  —  crow. 

Prax.    I  have  been  waiting,  watching  for  you  all 
The  whole  night  long ;  and  now  I  '11  summon  forth 
My  neighbour  here,  scratching  her  door  so  gently 
As  not  to  rouse  her  husband. 

Second  Woman.  Yea  I  heard 

(For  I  was  up  and  putting  on  my  shoes) 
The  stealthy  creeping  of  thy  finger-nail. 
My  husband,  dear — -a  Salaminian  he  — 
Has  all  night  long  been  tossing  in  his  bed ; 
Wherefore  I  could  not  steal  his  garb  till  now. 

First  Woman.    O  now  they  are  coming  !    Here  's  Cleinarete, 
Here  's  Sostrata,  and  here  's  Philaenite. 

Semichorus.    Come,  hurry  up  :  for  Glyce  vowed  a  vow 
That  whosoever  comes  the  last  shall  pay 
One  quart  of  chickpease  and  nine  cjuarts  of  wine. 

First  Woman.    And  look  !    Melistiche,  Smicythion's  wife, 
Wearing  her  husband's  shoes.    She,  only  she, 
Has  come  away,  methinks,  at  ease,  unflurried. 

Second  Woman.    And  look !    Geusistrata,  the  tapster's  wife, 
In  her  right  hand  the  torch. 

Prax,  And  now  the  wives 

Of  Philodoretus  and  Chaeretades, 
And  many  another,  hurrying  on  I  see, 
All  that  is  best  and  worthiest  in  the  town. 


544  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Aristophanes,  The  Women  in  Parliament,  82-101 

Prax.    But  now  to  finish  what  remains  to  do 
While  yet  the  stars  are  fingering  in  the  sky ; 
For  this  Assembly,  as  you  know,  whereto 
We  all  are  bound,  commences  with  the  dawn. 

First  Woman.    And  so  it  does  :  and  we  're  to  seat  ourselves 
Facing  the  prytanes,  just  below  the  speakers. 

Second  Woman.    See  what  I  've  brought,  dear  heart :   I  mean 
to  do 
A  little  spinning  while  the  Assembly  fills. 

Prax.    Fills  ?  miserable  woman  ! 
■    Second  Woman.  Yes,  why  not } 

O  I  can  spin  and  listen  just  as  well. 
Besides,  my  little  chicks  have  got  no  clothes. 

Prax.    P"ancy  you  spinning  !  when  you  must  not  have 
The  tiniest  morsel  of  your  person  seen. 
'T  were  a  fine  scrape,  if  when  the  Assembly  's  full. 
Some  woman  clambering  o'er  the  seats,  and  throwing 
Her  cloke  awry,  should  show  that  she  's  a  woman. 
No,  if  we  sit  in  front  and  gather  round  us 
Our  husbands'  garments,  none  will  find  us  out. 
Why,  when  we  've  got  our  flowing  beards  on  there, 
Who  that  beholds  us  will  suppose  we  're  women .? 

Praxagora  takes  the  lead  and  opens  the  discussion,  in  which 
she  also  takes  a  lively  part  afterwards. 

Aristophanes,  The  WotJien  in  Fat-Iiafnent,  106-245 

Prax.    .   .  .  We  women  dare  this  daring  deed  to  do, 

If  we  can  seize  upon  the  helm  of  state 

And  trim  the  ship  to  weather  through  the  storm  ; 

For  neither  sails  nor  oars  avail  it  now. 

First  Woman.    How  can  the  female  soul  of  womankind 

Address  the  Assembly  ? 

Prax.  Admirably  well. 

Youths  that  are  most  effeminate,  they  say, 


THE  RP:VIVAL  of  ATHENS  545 

Are  always  strongest  in  the  speaking  line  ; 
And  we  've  got  that  by  nature. 

First  Woman.  Maybe  so. 

Still  inexperience  is  a  serious  matter, 

Prax.    And  is  not  that  the  very  reason  why 
We  've  met  together  to  rehearse  the  scene  ? 
Now  do  make  haste  and  fasten  on  your  beards, 
And  all  you  others  who  have  practised  talking. 

First  Woman.    Practised,  indeed  !  can't  every  woman  talk  ? 

Prax.    Come,  fasten  on  your  beard,  and  be  a  man. 
I  '11  lay  these  chaplets  down,  and  do  the  same. 
Maybe  I  '11  make  a  little  speech  myself. 

Second  Woman.    O,  here,  sweet  love,  Praxagora  :  look,  child  ! 
O  what  a  merry  joke  this  seems  to  me  ! 

Prax,    Joke  !  where  's  the  joke  .'' 

Second  Woman.  'T  is  just  as  if  we  tied 

A  shaggy  beard  to  toasting  cuttlefish. 

Prax.    Now,  Purifier,  carry  round  the  —  cat. 
Come  in  !    Ariphrades,  don't  chatter  so. 
Come  in,  sit  down.    Who  will  address  the  meeting  ? 

First  Woman.    I. 

Prax.  Wear  this  chaplet  then,  and  luck  be  with  you. 

First  Woman.    There. 

Prax.  Speak  away. 

First  Woman.  What  speak  before  I  drink  ? 

Prax.   Just  listen.    Drink  ! 

First  Woman,  Then  v/hat  's  this  chaplet  for } 

Prax.    O  get  away.    Is  this  what  you  'd  have  done 
Amongst  the  men  ? 

First  Woman.    What,  don't  men  drink  at  meetings  ? 

Prax.    Drink,  fool  ? 

First  Woman.  By  Artemis,  I  know  they  do, 

And  strong  drink  too.    Look  at  the  Acts  they  pass. 
Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  they  'd  pass  such  nonsense 
If  they  were  n't  drunk  .''    Besides,  they  pour  libations. 
Or  what 's  the  meaning  of  those  tedious  prayers 
Unless  they  'd  got  some  wine,  I  'd  like  to  know. 


546  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Besides,  they  quarrel  just  like  drunken  men, 

And  when  one  drinks  too  much,  and  gets  too  noisy, 

In  come  the  Archer-boys,  and  run  him  out. 

Prax.    Begone  and  sit  you  down,  for  you  're  no  good. 

First  Woman.    Good  lack,  I  wish  I  'd  never  worn  a  beard ; 
I  'm  parched  to  death  with  thirst,  I  really  am. 

Prax.    Would  any  other  like  to  speak  ? 

Second  Woman.  Yes,  I. 

Prax.    Put  on  this  chaplet  and  be  quick.    Time  presses. 
Now  lean'your  weight  upon  your  walking-stick. 
And  speak  your  words  out  manfully  and  well. 

Second  Woman.    I  could  have  wished  some  more  experienced 
man 
Had  risen  to  speak,  while  I  sat  still  and  listened. 
But  now  I  say  I  '11  not  permit,  for  one. 
That  in  their  taverns  men  should  make  them  tanks 
Of  water.    'T  is  not  proper,  by  the  Twain. 
'    Prax.    How  !  by  the  Twain  ?    Girl,  have  you  lost  your  wits  ? 

Second  Woman.   Why,  what 's  amiss .?  /  never  asked  for  drink. 

Prax.    You  are  a  man,  and  yet  invoked  the  Twain. 
All  else  you  said  was  excellently  right. 

Second  Woman.    O  yes,  by  Apollo  ! 

Prax.  Mind  then,  I  won't  move 

Another  step  in  this  Assembly  business 
Unless  you  are  strict  and  accurate  in  this. 

Second  Woman.    Give  me  the  chaplet,  and  I  '11  try  again. 
I  've  thought  of  something  very  good  to  say. 
In  my  opinion,  O  assembled  women, 

Prax.    O  monstrous  !    women,  idiot,  when  they  're  men  .? 

Second  Woman.    'T  was  all  Epigonus  :  he  caught  my  eye 
And  so,  methought  'twas  women  I  harangued. 

Prax.    You,  too,  retire  and  sit  you  down  again, 
For  I  myself  will  wear  the  chaplet  now 
Your  cause  to  further  :  and  I  pray  the  gods 
That  I  may  haply  prosper  our  design. 

I  have,  my  friends,  an  equal  stake  with  you 
In  this  our  country,  and  I  grieve  to  note 


1 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  547 

The  sad  condition  of  the  state's  affairs. 
I  see  the  state  employing  evermore 
Unworthy  ministers  ;  if  one  do  well 
A  single  day,  he  '11  act  amiss  for  ten. 
You  trust  another  :  he  '11  be  ten  times  worse. 
Hard,  hard  it  is  to  counsel  wayward  men, 
Always  mistrusting  those  who  love  you  best, 
And  paying  court  to  those  who  love  you  not. 
There  was  a  time,  my  friends,  we  never  came 
To  these  Assemblies  ;  then  we  knew  full  well 
Agyrrhius  was  a  rogue  :  we  come  here  now, 
And  he  who  gets  the  cash  applauds  the  man, 
And  he  who  gets  it  not,  protests  that  they 
Who  come  for  payment  ought  to  die  the  death. 

First  Woman.    By  Aphrodite  now,  but  that 's  well  said  ! 

Prax.    Heavens  !    Aphrodite  !    'T  were  a  pleasant  jest, 
If  in  the  Assembly  you  should  praise  me  so ! 

First  Woman.    Ah,  but  I  won't. 

Prax.  Then  don't  acquire  the  habit. 

This  League  again,  when  first  we  talked  it  over, 
It  seemed  the  only  thing  to  save  the  state. 
Yet  when  they  'd  got  it,  they  disliked  it.    He 
Who  pushed  it  through  was  forced  to  cut  and  run. 
Ships  must  be  launched  ;  the  poor  men  all  approve, 
The  wealthy  men  and  farmers  disapprove. 
You  used  to  hate  Corinthians,  and  they  you  ; 
They  are  friendly  now  :  do  you  be  friendly  too. 
Argeius  was  a  fool :  now  Jerome  's  wise. 
Safety  just  showed  her  face  :  but  Thrasybulus, 
No  more  called  in,  is  quite  excluded  now. 

First  Woman.    Here  's  a  shrewd  man  ! 

Prax.  Ah,  now  you  praise  me  rightly. 

Ye  are  to  blame  for  this,  Athenian  people, 
Ye  draw  your  wages  from  the  public  purse, 
Yet  each  man  seeks  his  private  gain  alone. 
So  the  state  reels,  like  any  ^simus. 
Still,  if  ye  trust  me,  ye  shall  yet  be  saved. 


548  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

I  move  that  now  the  womankind  be  asked 

To  rule  the  state.    In  our  own  homes,  ye  know, 

They  are  the  managers  and  rule  the  house. 

First  Woman,    O  good,  good,  good  !  speak  on,  speak  on,  dear 
man. 

Prax.    That  they  are  better  in  their  ways  than  we 
I  '11  soon  convince  you.    First,  they  dye  their  wools 
With  boiling  tinctures,  in  the  ancient  style. 
You  won't  find  them,  I  warrant,  in  a  hurry 
Trying  new  plans.    And  would  it  not  have  saved 
The  Athenian  city  had  she  let  alone 
Things  that  worked  well,  nor  idly  sought  things  new .? 
They  roast  their  barley,  sitting,  as  of  old  : 
They  on  their  heads  bear  burdens,  as  of  old  : 
They  keep  their  Thesmophoria,  as  of  old  : 
They  bake  their  honied  cheesecakes,  as  of  old  : 
They  victimize  their  husbands,  as  of  old  : 
They  still  secrete  their  lovers,  as  of  old  : 
They  buy  themselves  sly  dainties,  as  of  old : 
They  love  their  wine  unwatered,  as  of  old  : 
They  like  a  woman's  pleasures,  as  of  old  : 
Then  let  us,  gentlemen,  give  up  to  them 
The  helm  of  state,  and  not  concern  ourselves, 
Nor  pry,  nor  question  what  they  mean  to  do  ; 
But  let  them  really  govern,  knowing  this. 
The  statesman-mothers  never  will  neglect 
Their  soldier-sons.    And  then  a  soldier's  rations, 
Who  will  supply  as  well  as  she  who  bare  him  ? 
For  ways  and  means  none  can  excel  a  woman. 
And  there  's  no  fear  at  all  that  they  '11  be  cheated 
When  they  're  in  power,  for  they  're  the  cheats  themselves. 
Much  I  omit.    But  if  you  pass  my  motion. 
You  '11  lead  the  happiest  lives  that  e'er  you  dreamed  of. 

First  Woman.   O,  good  !  Praxagora.   Well  done,  sweet  wench. 
However  did  you  learn  to  speak  so  finely .? 

Prax.    I  and  my  husband  in  the  general  flight 
Lodged  in  the  Pnyx,  and  there  I  heard  the  speakers. 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  549 

Aristophanes,  The  Wometi  in  Parliament^  285-310 

Semichorus.   Time  to  be  moving,  gentlemen !  't  is  best  we  keep 
repeating 
This  name  of  ours,  lest  we  forget  to  use  it  at  the  Meeting. 
For  terrible  the  risk  would  be,  if  any  man  detected 
The  great  and  daring  scheme  which  we  in  darkness  have  projected. 

SOXG    OF    THE    TOWX    SeMICHORUS 

On  to  the  Meeting,  worthy  sirs  :  for  now  the  magistrate  avers 
That  whoever  shall  fail  to 
Arrive  while  the  dusk  of  the 

Morning  is  gray, 
All  dusty  and  smacking  of 
Pickle  and  acid,  that 
Man  shall  assuredly 

Forfeit  his  pay. 
Now  Charitimides, 
Braces,  and  Smicythus, 

Hasten  along : 
See  that  there  fall  from  you 
Never  a  word  or  a 

Note  that  is  wrong. 
Get  we  our  tickets,  and 
Sit  we  together,  and 

Choose  the  front  rows. 
Vote  we  whatever  our 

Sisters  propose. 
Our  sisters!    My  wits  are  gone  gleaning ! 
Our  "  brothers,"  of  course,  was  my  meaning. 

Song  of  the  Country  Semichorus 

We  '11   thrust  aside  this   bothering  throng  which  from   the  city 
crowds  along. 

These  men,  who  aforetime 
When  only  an  obol  they 

Got  for  their  pay 
Would  sit  in  the  wreath-market, 


550  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Chatting  away. 
Ah  well,  in  the  days  of  our 
Noble  Myronides 

None  would  have  stooped 
Money  to  take  for 
Attending  the  Meetings,  but 

Hither  they  trooped. 
Each  with  his  own  little 

Goatskin  of  wine. 
Each  with  three  olives,  two 
Onions,  one  loaf,  in  his 

Wallet,  to  dine. 
But  now  they  are  set 
The  three-obol  to  get. 
And  whene'er  the  state  business  engages. 
They  clamour,  like  hodmen,  for  wages. 

The  husbands  are  now  awake  and  out  in  the  street.  One  has 
been  to  the  meeting  and  describes  it  to  his  friend,  who  is  utterly 
■at  a  loss  to  know  what  has  happened. 

Aristophanes,  The  Women  in  Parliament,  383-397 

Chremes.    There  gathered  such  a  crowd 
About  the  Pnyx,  you  never  saw  the  like  ; 
Such  pale-faced  fellows  ;  just  like  shoemakers 
We  all  declared  ;  and  strange  it  was  to  see 
How  pallid-packed  the  whole  Assembly  looked. 
So  I  and  lots  of  us  could  get  no  pay. 

Blepyrus,    Shall  I  get  any  if  I  run  t 

Chr.  Not  you ! 

Not  had  you  been  there  when  the  cock  was  giving 
Its  second  crow. 

Blep.  O  weep,  Antilochus, 

Rather  for  me,  the  living,  than  for  him, 
The  loved  and  lost  —  three-obol.    All  is  gone  ! 
Whatever  was  it  though  that  brought  together 
So  vast  a  crowd  so  early  .'' 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  551 

Chr.  'T  was  determined 

To  put  this  question  to  the  assembled  people, 
"How  best  to  save  the  state." 

Aristophanes,  The  Women  i)i  Parliameiif,  427-476 

Chr.    Then,  after  him,  there  bounded  up  to  speak 
A  spruce  and  pale-faced  youth,  like  Nicias. 
And  ]ie  declared  we  ought  to  place  the  state 
Into  the  hands  of  (whom  do  you  think  ?)  the  women  ! 
Then  the  whole  mob  of  shoemakers  began 
To  cheer  like  mad  ;  whilst  all  the  country  folk 
Hooted  and  hissed. 

Blep.  They  showed  their  sense,  by  Zeus. 

Chr.    But  less  their  numbers  ;  so  the  lad  went  on. 
Speaking  all  good  of  women,  but  of  you 
Everything  bad. 

Blep.  W^hat .? 

Chr.  First  of  all  he  called  you 

An  arrant  rogue. 

Blep.  And  you  ? 

Chr.  Let  be,  awhile. 

Also  a  thief. 

Blep.  Me  only } 

Chr.  And  by  Zeus, 

A  sycophant. 

Blep.  Me  only .? 

Chr.  And  by  Zeus, 

All  our  friends  here. 

Blep.  Well,  who  says  nay  to  that } 

Chr.    And  then  the  woman  is,  he  said,  a  thing 
Stuffed  full  of  wit  and  moneymaking  ways. 
They  don't  betray  their  Thesmophorian  secrets. 
But  you  and  I  blab  all  state  secrets  out. 

Blep.    By  Hermes,  there  at  least  he  told  no  lie. 

Chr.    And  women  lend  each. other,  said  the  lad. 
Their  dresses,  trinkets,  money,  drinking-cups, 
Though  quite  alone,  with  never  a  witness  there. 


552  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

And  all  restore  the  loan,  and  none  withhold  it. 
But  men,  he  said,  are  always  doing  this. 

Blep.    Aye  to  be  sure  :  though  witnesses  were  there. 

Chr,    They  don't  inform,  or  prosecute,  or  put 
The  people  down  :  but  everything  that 's  right. 
And  much,  besides,  he  praised  the  womankind. 

Blep.    What  was  determined  } 

Chr.  You  're  to  put  the  state 

Into  their  hands.    This  was  the  one  reform 
Not  yet  attempted. 

Blep.  'T  was  decreed  } 

Chr.  It  was. 

Blep.    So  then  the  women  now  must  undertake 
All  manly  duties  .-' 

Chr.  So  I  understand. 

Blep.    Then  I  shan't  be  a  dicast,  but  my  wife  } 

Chr.    Nor  you  support  your  household,  but  your  wife. 

Blep.    Nor  I  get  grumbling  up  in  early  morn. 

Chr.    No  :  for  the  future  that 's  your  wife's  affair. 
You  '11  lie  abed  :  no  grumbling  any  more. 

Blep.    But  hark  ye,  'twould  be  rough  on  us  old  men 
If,  when  the  women  hold  the  reins  of  state. 
They  should  perforce  compel  us  to  — 

Chr.  Do  what .'' 

Blep.    Make  love  to  them. 

Chr.  But  if  we  're  not  prepared  t 

Blep.    They  '11  dock  our  breakfasts. 

Chr.  Therefore  learn  the  way 

How  to  make  love,  and  eat  your  breakfast  too. 

Blep.    Upon  compulsion  !    Faugh  ! 

Chr.  If  that  is  for 

The  public  good,  we  needs  must  all  obey. 
There  is  a  legend  of  the  olden  time. 
That  all  our  foolish  plans  and  vain  conceits 
Are  overruled  to  work  the  public  good. 
So  be  it  now,  high  Pallas  and  ye  gods ! 
But  I  must  go.    Farewell. 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  553 

Blepyrus  tells  his  wife  about  what  he  has  seen.  Praxagora  has 
now  come  home  and  made  an  excuse  to  her  husband  for  running 
away  with  his  clothes.  He  fairly  revels  in  the  choice  bit  of  news 
he  has  for  her. 

Aristophanes,  The  Women  in  Parliament,  555-570 

Blep.    The  state,  they  say,  is  handed  over  to  you  ! 

Prax.    What  for  ?    To  weave  } 

Blep.  No,  govern. 

Prax.  Govern  what  ? 

Blep.    All  the  whole  work  and  business  of  the  state. 

Prax.    O  here  's  a  lucky  state,  by  Aphrodite, 
We  're  going  to  have  ! 

Blep.  How  so .'' 

Prax.  For  many  reasons. 

For  now  no  longer  shall  bold  men  be  free 
To  shame  the  city  :  no  more  witnessing. 
No  false  informing  — 

Blep.  Hang  it,  don't  do  that. 

Don't  take  away  my  only  means  of  living ! 

Chr.    Pray,  sir,  be  still,  and  let  the  lady  speak, 

Prax.    No  thefts  of  overclokes,  no  envyings  now, 
None  to  be  poor  and  naked  any  more. 
No  wranglings,  no  distraining  on  your  goods. 

Chr.    Now,  by  Poseidon,  wondrous  news  if  true. 

Prax.    Aye,  and  I  '11  prove  it,  so  that  you  '11  support  me, 
And  he  himself  have  nought  to  say  against  it. 

Aristophanes,  The  Women  in  Parliament,  588-618 

Prax.    Then  all  to  the  speaker  in  silence  attend, 
And  don't  interrupt  till  I  come  to  the  end. 
And  weigh  and  perpend,  till  you  quite  comprehend, 
The  drift  and  intent  of  the  scheme  I  present. 
The  rule  which  I  dare  to  enact  and  declare, 
Is  that  all  shall  be  equal,  and  equally  share 
All  wealth  and  enjoyments,  nor  longer  endure 
That  one  should  be  rich,  and  another  be  poor, 


554  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

That  one  should  have  acres,  far-stretching  and  wide, 

And  another  not  even  enough  to  provide 

Himself  with  a  grave  :  that  this  at  his  call 

Should  have  hundreds  of  servants,  and  that  none  at  all. 

All  this  I  intend  to  correct  and  amend  : 

Now  all  of  all  blessings  shall  freely  partake, 

One  life  and  one  system  for  all  men  I  make. 

Blep.    And  how  will  you  manage  it  ? 

Prax.  First,  I  '11  provide 

That  the  silver,  and  land,  and  whatever  beside 
Each  man  shall  possess,  shall  be  common  and  free. 
One  fund  for  the  public  ;  then  out  of  it  we 
Will  feed  and  maintain  you,  like  housekeepers  true. 
Dispensing,  and  sparing,  and  caring  for  you. 

Blep.    With  regard  to  the  land,  I  can  quite  understand, 
But  how,  if  a  man  have  his  money  in  hand. 
Not  farms,  which  you  see,  and  he  cannot  withhold, 
But  talents  of  silver  and  Darics  of  gold  .? 

Prax.    All  this  to  the  stores  he  must  bring. 

Blep.  But  suppose 

He  choose  to  retain  it,  and  nobody  knows  ; 
Rank  perjury  doubtless  ;  but  what  if  it  be  .'' 
'T  was  by  that  he  acquired  it  at  first. 

Prax.  I  agree. 

But  now  'twill  be  useless  ;  he  '11  need  it  no  more. 

Blep.    How  mean  you  ? 

Prax.  All  pressure  from  want  will  be  o'er. 

Now  each  will  have  all  that  a  man  can  desire, 
Cakes,  barley-loaves,  chestnuts,  abundant  attire. 
Wine,  garlands  and  fish  :  then  why  should  he  wish 
The  wealth  he  has  gotten  by  fraud  to  retain  ? 
If  you  know  any  reason,  I  hope  you  '11  explain. 

Blep.    'T  is  those  that  have  most  of  these  goods,  I  believe, 
That  are  always  the  worst  and  the  keenest  to  thieve. 

Prax.    I  grant  you,  my  friend,  in  the  days  that  are  past. 
In  your  old-fashioned  system,  abolished  at  last ; 
But  what  he  's  to  gain,  though  his  wealth  he  retain. 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  555 

When  all  things  are  common,  I  'd  have  you  explain. 

Blep.    If  a  youth  to  a  girl  his  devotion  would  show, 
He  surely  must  woo  her  with  presents. 

Prax.  O  no. 

All  women  and  men  will  be  common  and  free. 
No  marriage  or  other  restraint  there  will  be. 

Blep.    But  if  all  should  aspire  to  the  favours  of  one, 
To  the  girl  that  is  fairest,  what  then  will  be  done .? 

Prax.    By  the  side  of  the  beauty,  so  stately  and  grand. 
The  dwarf,  the  deformed,  and  the  ugly  will  stand  ; 
And  before  you  're  entitled  the  beauty  to  woo. 
Your  court  you  must  pay  to  the  hag  and  the  shrew. 

Aristophanes,  The  Women  in  Parliamenf,  652-693 

Blep.    But  who  will  attend  to  the  work  of  the  farm  ^ 

Prax.    All  labour  and  toil  to  your  slaves  you  will  leave  ; 
Your  business  't  will  be,  when  the  shadows  of  eve 
Ten  feet  on  the  face  of  the  dial  are  cast, 
To  scurry  away  to  your  evening  repast. 

Blep.    Our  clothes,  what  of  them  } 

Prax.  You  have  plenty  in  store. 

When  these  are  worn  out,  we  will  weave  you  some  more. 

Blep.    Just  one  other  thing.    If  an  action  they  bring. 
What  funds  will  be  mine  for  discharging  the  fine .? 
You  won't  pay  it  out  of  the  stores,  I  opine. 

Prax.    A 'fine  to  be  paid  when  an  action  they  bring ! 
Why  bless  you,  our  people  won't  know  such  a  thing 
As  an  action. 

Blep.  No  actions  !    I  feel  a  misgiving. 

Pray  what  are  "  our  people  "  to  do  for  a  living .? 

Chr.    You  are  right :  there  are  many  will  rue  it. 

Prax.  No  doubt. 

But  what  can  one  then  bring  an  action  about .-' 

Blep.    There  are  reasons  in  plenty  ;   I  '11  just  mention  one. 
If  a  debtor  won't  pay  you,  pray  what 's  to  be  done } 

Prax.    If  a  debtor  won't  pay !    Nay,  but  tell  me,  my  friend, 
How  the  creditor  came  by  the  money  to  lend .? 


556  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

All  money,  I  thought,  to  the  stores  had  been  brought. 
I  've  got  a  suspicion,  I  say  it  with  grief, 
Your  creditor  's  surely  a  bit  of  a  thief. 

Blep.    Now  that  is  an  answer  acute  and  befitting. 
But  what  if  a  man  should  be  fined  for  committing 
Some  common  assault,  when  elated  with  wine  ; 
Pray  what  are  his  means  for  discharging  that  fine  ? 
I  have  posed  you,  I  think. 

Prax.  Why  his  victuals  and  drink 

Will  be  stopped  by  command  for  awhile  ;  and  I  guess 
That  he  will  not  again  in  a  hurry  transgress, 
When  he  pays  with  his  stomach. 

Blep.  Will  thieves  be  unknown  ? 

Prax.    Why  how  should  they  steal  what  is  partly  their  own  ? 

Blep.    No  chance  then  to  meet  at  night  in  the  street 
Some  highwayman  coming  our  clokes  to  abstract .'' 

Prax.    No,  not  if  you  're  sleeping  at  home  ;  nor,  in  fact, 
Though  you  choose  to  go  out.    That  trade,  why  pursue  it.? 
There  's  plenty  for  all :  but  suppose  him  to  do  it, 
Don't  fight  and  resist  him  ;  what  need  of  a  pother  ? 
You  can  go  to  the  stores,  and  they  '11  give  you  another. 

Blep.    Shall  we  gambling  forsake  } 

Prax.  Why,  what  could  you  stake  .? 

Blep.    But  what  is  the  style  of  our  living  to  be  } 

Prax.    One  common  to  all,  independent  and  free. 
All  bars  and  partitions  for  ever  undone. 
All  private  establishments  fused  into  one. 

Blep.    Then  where,  may  I  ask,  will  our  dinners  be  laid .? 

Prax.    Each  court  and  arcade  of  the  law  shall  be  made 
A  banqueting  hall  for  the  citizens. 

Blep.  Right. 

But  what  will  )-ou  do  with  the  desk  for  the  speakers  ? 

Prax.    I  '11  make  it  a  stand  for  the  cups  and  the  beakers ; 
And  there  shall  the  striplings  be  ranged  to  recite 
The  deeds  of  the  brave,  and  the  joys  of  the  fight, 
And  the  cowards'  disgrace  ;     till  out  of  the  place 
Each  coward  shall  slink  with  a  very  red  face, 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  ATHENS  5  57 

Not  stopping  to  dine. 

Blep,  O  but  that  will  be  fine 

And  what  of  the  balloting  booths  ? 

Prax,  They  shall  go 

To  the  head  of  the  market-place,  all  in  a  row, 
And  there  by  Harmodius  taking  my  station, 
I  '11  tickets  dispense  to  the  whole  of  the  nation, 
Till  each  one  has  got  his  particular  lot, 
And  manfully  bustles  along  to  the  sign 
Of  the  letter  whereat  he  's  empanelled  to  dine. 
The  man  who  has  A  shall  be  ushered  away 
To  the  Royal  Arcade ;  to  the  next  will  go  B  ; 
And  C  to  the  Cornmarket. 

Blep.  Merely  to  see? 

Prax.    No,  fool,  but  to  dine. 

Blep.  'T  is  an  excellent  plan. 

Then  he  who  gets  never  a  letter,  poor  man. 
Gets  never  a  dinner. 

Prax.  But  'twill  not  be  so. 

There  '11  be  plenty  for  all,  and  to  spare. 
No  stint  and  no  grudging  our  system  will  know, 
But  each  will  away  from  the  revelry  go, 
Elated  and  grand,  with  a  torch  in  his  hand 
And  a  garland  of  flowers  in  his  hair. 


EXPLANATION  OF  WORDS 

Scira :  a  woman's  festival  in  which  parasols  were  carried  in  the  procession 
(probably  for  religious  and  not  for  decorative  purposes).  —  herald  .  .  .  crow:  the 
herald  blew  a  signal  on  his  trumpet.  —  chickpease,  etc.  :  a  fine  for  lateness.  — 
cuttlefish:  pale  skin  (.■').  —  cat:  a  pig  was  the  usual  sacrifice.  —  Archer-boys: 
Scythian  bowmen  served  as  police.  —  I  could  have  wished :  a  conventional 
opening  of  a  speech  in  court,  etc.  —  Twain:  a  woman's  oath,  by  female  divinities. 
—  Epigonus  :  an  effeminate  person.  —  .^simus  :  a  noted  drunkard. — Thesmo- 
phoria  :  a  woman's  festival.  —  Pnyx  :  the  regular  place  of  assembly.  —  three-obol : 
all  were  greedy  for  the  increased  pay  for  court  fees.  —  No  false  informing:  the 
common  informers  were  the  bane  of  Athens. — No  actions:  the  Athenians  were 
notorious  for  lawsuits  (see  "Wasps").  —  Harmodius:  a  group  of  the  tyrannicides 
stood  near  the  agora.  —  tickets  :  lettered  like  theater  or  court  tickets. 


558  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Primary  Sources:  Inscriptions;  Aristophanes,  Comedies,  especially  Eccle- 
siazusas,  Plutus  ;  Plato  ;  Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  Politics,  Ethics  ;  Xeno- 
phon,  Hellenica,  III-VII,  Anabasis,  Agesilaus,  Memorabilia,  Apology  of  Socrates; 
Lysias,  Orations,  passim  ;  Isocrates,  Orations, /(7jj/w  ,■  Andocides,  De  Pace. 

Derivative  Sources:  Polybius ;  Pausanias,  especially  IV,  VIII-IX;  Plutarch, 
Lysander,  Agesilaus,  Pelopidas,  Timoleon,  Pyrrhus,  Artaxerxes,  Dion  ;  Diodorus, 
XIII-XVI  (parts) ;  Nepos,  Conon,  Thrasybulus,  Agesilaus,  Iphicrates,  Timotheus, 
Chabrias,  Pelopidas,  Epaminondas. 

Modern  Authorities:  S/>a>ic7,  —  Botsford,  Ilistorj'  of  Greece,  chap,  xiii ;  Bury, 
History  of  Greece,  chap,  xii ;  Holm,  History  of  Greece,  Vol.  II,  chap,  xxx; 
Vol.  Ill,  chaps,  i-vi ;  Oman,  History  of  Greece,  chaps,  xxxv-xxxvi ;  xxxviii- 
xxxix ;  Sankey,  Spartan  and  Theban  Supremacies,  chaps,  i-xi ;  Curtius,  History 
of  Greece,  Vol.  IV,  Bk.  V,  chap,  i;  Grote,  History  of  Greece,  Vol.  VIII,  chap. 
Ixv  ;  Vol.  X,  chap.  Ixxviii. 

Thebes  and  Athens,  —  Botsford,  chap,  xiv;  Bury,  chaps,  xiii-xiv;  Holm,  Vol.  Ill, 
chaps,  viii-x,  xii-xiii ;  Oman,  chap,  xl ;  Allcroft,  Decline  of  Hellas,  chaps,  i-ii ; 
Sankey,  chap,  xii ;  Curtius,  Vol.  IV,  Bk.  VI,  chap,  ii ;  Grote,  Vol.  X,  chaps. 
Ixxviii-lxxx  ;  Roberts,  The  Ancient  Boeotians  ;  F.  H.  Marshall,  Second  Athenian 
Confederacy ;  E.  A.  Gardner  and  others.  Excavations  at  Megalopolis ;  Mahaffy, 
Survey  of  Greek  Civilization,  chaps,  vi-vii ;  Social  Life  in  Greece,  chaps,  ix-xiv. 

Sicily,  —  Botsford,  chap,  xii;  Bury,  chap,  xv;  Holm,  Vol.  II,  chap,  xxix;  Vol.  IH, 
chaps,  xi,  xxviii ;  Vol.  IV,  chaps,  vii-viii,  xi-xii ;  Oman,  chap,  xxxvii ;  Grote, 
Vol.  X,  chaps.  Ixxxi-lxxxii ;  Vol.  XI,  chaps.  Ixxxiii-lxxxv  ;  Vol.  XII,  chap,  xcvii; 
Allcroft  and  Masom,  History  of  Sicily,  chaps,  vii-xii ;  Freeman,  History  of  Sicily, 
Vol.  Ill,  chap,  ix  (see  also  "  Syracusan  Empire,"  Vol.  IV,  Suppl.  i  [Evans]  ; 
"  Hadriatic  Colonies,"  Vol.   IV,  Suppl.  ii ;  "Finance,"  Vol.  IV,   Suppl.  iii). 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON 

Early  conditions  in  Macedon — Philip  —  Summary  of  his  deeds — Success  in 
the  north  —  Activity  against  Athens  —  Plans  for  the  invasion  of  Asia  — Demos- 
thenes—  His  policy  of  resistance  —  Aggressive  action  urged — Failure  of  the  em- 
bassy; A'^schines  blamed  —  Alliance  with  Thebes  —  Chasronea  and  its  results  — 
The  attack  of  ^-Eschines  on  Demosthenes —  Demosthenes  defends  his  own  policy 

I.    Early  Conditions  in  Macedon 

It  is  of  course  not  surprising  that  we  have  no  contemporary 
records  of  the  Macedonians  written  by  themselves.  For  many  cen- 
turies their  warhke  mode  of  life  and  tribal  rivalries  left  little  time 
for  chronicling  their  deeds ;  nor  was  their  social  organization  such 
that  legislation  or  decrees,  which  form  such  a  valuable  source  of 
information  in  the  case  of  Greek  cities,  played  any  part. 

Even  before  this  time  Greeks  and  Macedonians  each  visited  the 
country  of  the  other,  and,  during  the  half  century  or  more  after  the 
death  of  Thucydides,  Macedonia  was  becoming  more  fully  imbued 
with  Greek  civilization. 

Greek  writers  went  to  the  courts  of  Perdiccas  and  Amyntas ; 
Macedonians  sometimes  sent  their  children  to  Greece  to  be  edu- 
cated, and  the  influence  of  Greek  art  is  most  apparent  on  the 
Macedonian  coinage  of  this  time.  But  as  yet  this  civilization  had 
not  penetrated  very  deeply,  and  life  at  the  Macedonian  courts  has 
sometimes  been  likened  to  that  among  the  Homeric  chieftains. 

A  brief  summary  of  Macedonian  conditions  to  his  own  time  is 
given  by  Thucydides. 

Thucydides,  II,  99-100 

Assembling  in  Doberus,  they  prepared  for  descending  from  the 
heights  upon  Lower  Macedonia,  where  the  dominions  of  Perdiccas 
lay ;   for  the  Lyncestae,   Elimiots,  and  other  tribes  more  inland, 

559 


S6o  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

though  Macedonians  by  blood  and  allies  and  dependents  of  their 
kindred,  still  have  their  own  separate  governments.  The  country 
on  the  sea  coast,  now  called  Macedonia,  was  first  acquired  by  Alex- 
ander, the  father  of  Perdiccas,  and  his  ancestors,  originally  Tem- 
enids  from  Argos.  This  was  effected  by  the  expulsion  from  Pieria 
of  the  Pierians,  who  afterwards  inhabited  Phagres  and  other  places 
under  Mount  Pangaeus,  beyond  the  Strymon  (indeed  the  country 
between  Pangaeus  and  the  sea  is  still  called  the  Pierian  gulf)  ;  of 
the  Bottiaeans,  at  present  neighbours  of  the  Chalcidians,  from 
Bottia,  and  by  the  acquisition  in  Paeonia  of  a  narrow  strip  along 
the  river  Axius  extending  to  Pella  and  the  sea  ;  the  district  of 
Mygdonia,  between  the  Axius  and  the  Strymon,  being  also  added 
by  the  expulsion  of  the  Edonians.  PYom  Eordia  also  were  driven 
the  Eordians,  most  of  whom  perished,  though  a  few  of  them  still 
live  round  Physca,  and  the  Almopians  from  Almopia.  These 
Macedonians  also  conquered  places  belonging  to  the  other  tribes, 
which  are  still  theirs  —  Anthemus,  Grestonia,  Bisaltia,  and  much 
of  Macedonia  Proper,  The  whole  is  now  called  Macedonia,  and  at 
the  time  of  the  invasion  of  Sitalces,  Perdiccas,  Alexander's  son, 
was  the  reigning  king. 

These  Macedonians,  unable  to  take  the  field  against  so  numerous 
an  invader,  shut  themselves  up  in  such  strong  places  and  fortresses 
as  the  country  possessed.  Of  these  there  was  no  great  number, 
most  of  those  now  found  in  the  country  having  been  erected 
subsequently  by  Archelaus,  the  son  of  Perdiccas,  on  his  acces- 
sion, who  also  cut  straight  roads,  and  otherwise  put  the  kingdom 
on  a  better  footing  as  regards  horses,  heavy  infantry,  and  other 
war  material  than  had  been  done  by  all  the  eight  kings  that 
preceded  him. 

Amyntas  had  already  formed  relations  with  the  Chalcidians, 
since  the  territory  around  them  was  a  most  valuable  source  of 
timber.  Athens  and  the  other  great  naval  powers  got  much  of 
their  supply  from  this  district,  and  a  commercial  treaty  like  the 
following  was  of  great  value  to  Macedon.  When  Macedon  con- 
trolled these  regions  the  Athenians  were  at  a  loss  for  timber. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  S^l 

Hicks  and  JUIl,  95 

Amyxtas  and  the  Chalcidiaxs,  B.C.  3S9-383 

Agreements  between  Amyntas  son  of  Errhidaeus  and  the  Chal- 
cidians :  —  To  be  allies  to  each  other  against  all  others  for  fifty  years. 

If  anyone  wage  war  on  the  land  of  Amyntas  or  of  the  Chalcid- 
ians,  the  Chalcidians  are  to  help  Amyntas,  and  Amyntas  to  help 
the  Chalcidians, 

There  shall  be  export  of  pitch  and  all  kinds  of  timber  for  build- 
ing purposes,  and  for  shipbuilding  except  pine,  whatever  is  not 
needed  by  the  league  ;  the  league  can  export  these  too  if  they  in- 
form Amyntas  beforehand  and  pay  the  duty  as  written  ;  and  there 
is  to  be  export  and  transport  of  other  products  on  payment  of  the 
duties  by  Chalcis  from  Macedonia  and  by  Macedonia  from  Chalcis. 

Regarding  the  Amphipolitans,  Bottiaeans,  Acanthians,  Men- 
dseans  :  neither  Amyntas  nor  Chalcis  is  to  make  friendly  relations 
independently,  but  with  common  consent  if  it  seems  to  both  parties 
to  be  of  common  advantage  to  admit  them  to  alliance, 

(Formula  of  oath,  very  fragmentary.) 
II,   Philip 

1.   SUMMARY  OF  HIS   DEEDS 

It  was  under  Philip  II  that  Macedon  became  a  real  political 
force.  Hitherto  the  disunion  and  bitter  jealousy  of  the  tribes,  the 
many  claimants  for  the  throne,  and  the  lack  of  a  well-organized 
army  had  prevented  this. 

Philip's  sensible  plan  was  to  secure  affairs  at  home  by  uniting  the 
tribes  and  by  training  a  most  efificient  fighting  machine,  and  then 
to  extend  his  conquests  farther. 

Such  a  method  of  expansion  was  bound  to  bring  him  into  con- 
flict with  the  Greek  cities,  particularly  those  in  Thrace  and  Chal- 
cidice.  This  district  was  especially  desirable  for  him  to  secure, 
both  because  of  its  nearness  to  Macedonia  and  its  great  wealth 
of  gold  mines. 


562  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Diodorus,  XVI,  i,  3-6  (tr.  Booth,  Vol.  II,  p.  77) 

Since,  therefore,  we  are  come  to  the  affairs  of  Philip,  son  of 
Amyntas,  we  shall,  according  to  the  former  rule,  endeavour  to  com- 
prehend in  this  book  all  the  actions  of  this  king.  For  he  reigned 
as  king  of  Macedon  two-and-thirty  years,  and,  making  use  at  first 
but  of  small  means,  at  length  advanced  his  kingdom  to  the  greatest 
in  Europe  ;  and  made  Macedon,  which  at  the  time  of  his  coming 
to  the  crown  was  under  the  servile  yoke  of  the  Illyrians,  mistress 
of  many  potent  cities  and  countries.  And  through  his  valour  the 
Grecian  cities  voluntarily  submitted  themselves  to  him,  and  made 
him  general  of  all  Greece.  And  having  subdued  those  that  robbed 
and  spoiled  the  temple  at  Delphos,  coming  in  aid  of  the  god  there, 
he  was  made  a  member  of  the  senate  of  the  Amphictyons  ;  and  as 
a  reward  of  his  zeal  to  the  gods,  the  right  of  voting  in  the  senate 
which  belonged  to  the  Phocians,  whom  he  had  overcome,  was 
allotted  to  him. 

After  he  overcame  the  Illyrians,  Paeones,  Thracians,  Scythians, 
and  the  countries  adjoining  them,  his  thoughts  were  wholly  em- 
ployed how  to  destroy  the  Persian  monarchy.  But,  after  he  had 
freed  all  the  Grecian  cities,  and  was  promised  forces  to  be  raised 
for  the  expedition  into  Asia,  in  the  midst  of  all  his  preparations 
he  was  prevented  by  death  :  but  he  left  those,  and  so  many  more 
forces  behind  him,  that  his  son  Alexander  had  no  occasion  to  make 
use  of  the  assistance  of  his  confederates  in  overturning  the  Persian 
empire.  And  all  those  things  he  did  not  so  much  by  the  favour  of 
fortune,  as  by  the  greatness  of  his  own  valour :  for  this  king  ex- 
celled most  in  the  art  of  a  general,  stoutness  of  spirit,  and  clearness 
of  judgment  and  apprehension.  But  that  we  may  not  in  a  preface 
set  forth  his  actions  beforehand,  we  shall  proceed  to  the  orderly 
course  of  the  history,  making  some  short  remarks  on  the  times 
that  went  before. 

2.  SUCCESS  IN  THE  NORTH 

Diodorus,  XVI,  viii,  1-7  (tr.  Booth,  Vol.  II,  pp.  84-85) 

About  the  same  time,  Philip  king  of  Macedon,  after  his  victory 
over  the  Illyrians  in  that  great  battle,  having  subdued  all  them  that 
dwelt  as  far  as  to  the  marches  of  Lychnitis,  and  made  an  honourable 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  563 

peace  with  them,  returned  into  Macedonia.  And  having  thus  by 
his  valour  raised  up  and  supported  the  tottering  state  and  con- 
dition of  the  Macedonians,  his  name  became  great  and  famous 
among  them.  Afterwards,  being  provoked  by  the  many  injuries 
of  them  of  AmphipoHs,  he  marched  against  them  with  a  great 
army,  and  applying  his  engines  of  battery  to  the  walls,  made  fierce 
and  continual  assaults,  and  by  the  battering  rams  threw  down  part 
of  the  wall,  and  entered  into  the  city  through  the  ruins,  with  the 
slaughter  of  many  that  opposed  him ;  and  forthwith  banished  his 
chief  enemies,  and  graciously  spared  the  rest. 

This  city,  by  reason  of  its  commodious  situation  in  Thrace,  and 
its  neighbourhood  to  other  places,  was  of  great  advantage  to  Philip ; 
for  he  presently  after  took  Pydna ;  but  made  a  league  with  the 
Olynthians,  and  promised  to  give  up  Potidea  to  them,  which  they 
had  a  long  time  before  much  coveted.  For  since  the  city  of  the 
Olynthians  was  rich,  potent,  and  populous,  and  upon  that  account 
was  a  place  of  great  advantage  in  time  of  war,  therefore  those  that 
were  ambitious  to  enlarge  their  dominion,  strove  always  to  gain  it : 
so  that  both  the  Athenians  and  Philip  earnestly  contended  which 
of  them  should  prevail  in  having  them  for  their  confederates.  But 
however,  Philip  having  taken  Potidea,  drew  out  the  Athenian  garri- 
son, and  treated  them  with  great  civility,  and  suffered  them  to  return 
to  Athens  ;  for  he  bore  a  great  respect  to  the  people  of  Athens,  be- 
cause that  city  was  eminent  and  famous  for  its  power  and  grandeur. 

He  likewise  delivered  up  Pydna  (which  he  had  subdued)  to  the 
Olynthians,  and  gave  them  all  the  grounds  and  territories  belong- 
ing to  it.  Thence  he  marched  to  Cremides,  which  he  enlarged,  and 
made  more  populous,  and  called  it  after  his  own  name,  Philippi. 
Besides,  he  so  improved  the  gold  mines  that  were  in  those  parts 
(which  before  were  but  inconsiderable  and  obscure),  that  by  build- 
ing work-houses  he  advanced  them  to  bring  in  a  yearly  revenue  of 
above  a  thousand  talents.  So  that  heaping  up  abundance  of  riches, 
in  a  short  time,  by  the  confluence  of  his  wealth,  he  advanced  the 
kingdom  of  Macedonia  to  a  higher  degree  of  majesty  and  glory  than 
ever  it  was  before  :  for  he  coined  pieces  of  gold  (called  from  him 
Philippics),  and  by  the  help  thereof,  raised  a  great  army  of  mer- 
cenaries, and  bribed  many  of  the  Grecians  to  betray  their  country. 


564  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Diodonis,  XVI,  liii,  2-liv,  4  (tr.  Booth,  Vol.  II,  p.  125) 

At  the  same  time  PhiUp  made  an  expedition  against  the  cities 
of  the  Hellespont,  of  which  Mecyberna  and  Torone  were  betrayed 
into  his  hands.  Then  he  made  against  Olynthus  (the  greatest  city 
of  those  parts)  with  a  very  numerous  army,  and  having  first  routed 
the  Olynthians  in  two  battles,  he  laid  siege  to  the  town  ;  upon 
which  he  made  many  assaults,  and  lost  a  great  number  of  his  men 
in  their  approaches  to  the  walls.  At  length,  by  bribing  Euthycrates 
and  Lasthenes,  the  chief  magistrates  of  Olynthus,  he  entered  the 
city  by  treachery,  and  plundered  it,  and  sold  all  the  citizens  for 
slaves,  and  exposed  to  sale  all  the  prey  and  plunder  under  the 
spear.  Whereby  he  furnished  himself  with  abundance  of  money 
for  carrying  on  the  war,  and  put  all  the  rest  of  the  cities  into  a 
terrible  fright. 

Then  he  bountifully  rewarded  such  as  had  behaved  themselves 
with  courage  and  valour,  and  having  exacted  vast  sums  of  money 
from  the  richest  of  the  citizens  of  the  surrounding  cities,  he  made 
use  of  it  to  corrupt  many  to  betray  their  country ;  so  that  he  him- 
self often  boasted  that  he  had  enlarged  his  dominion  more  by 
his  gold  than  by  his  sword. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Athenians  being  jealous  of  the  growing 
greatness  of  Philip,  ever  after  sent  aid  to  them  whom  he  invaded 
by  his  arms,  and  despatched  ambassadors  to  all  the  cities  to  de- 
sire them  to  look  to  their  liberties,  and  to  put  to  death  such  of 
their  citizens  as  should  be  discovered  to  go  about  to  betray  them, 
promising  withal  to  join  with  them  on  all  occasions.  At  length 
they  proclaimed  open  war  against  Philip. 

Demosthenes  the  orator  (at  that  time  the  most  eminent  in  poli- 
tics and  eloquence  of  all  the  Grecians)  was  the  chief  instrument 
that  incited  the  Athenians  to  take  upon  them  the  defence  of  all 
Greece  :  but  the  city  could  not  cure  that  desire  of  treason  that  in- 
fected many  of  the  citizens  ;  so  many  traitors  there  were  at  that 
time  all  over  Greece.  And  therefore  it  is  reported,  that  Philip  hav- 
ing an  earnest  desire  to  gain  that  once  strong  and  eminent  city, 
and  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  place  telling  him  it  could  never 
be  taken  by  force,  he  asked  him  whether  it  were  not  possible  that 
gold  might  mount  the  walls  ;  for  he  had  learnt  by  experience,  that 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  5^5. 

those  who  could  not  be  subdued  by  force,  were  easily  overcome  by 
gold.  To  this  end  he  had,  by  means  of  his  bribes,  procured  traitors 
in  every  city  ;  and  such  as  would  receive  his  money,  he  called 
his  friends  and  guests.  And  thus  with  evil  communications  he 
corrupted  men's  manners. 

3.    ACTIVITY   AGAINST  ATHENS 

Diodorns,  XVI,  Ixxxiv,  i-lxxxvii,  3  (tr.  Booth,  Vol.  II,  pp.  149-152) 

When  Charondas  executed  the  office  of  lord-chancellor  of  Athens, 
and  Lucius  /Emilius,  and  Caius  Plotius,  were  Roman  consuls,  Philip 
king  of  IMacedon  being  in  amity  with  many  of  the  Grecians,  made 
it  his  chief  business  to  bring  under  the  Athenians,  thereby  with 
more  ease  to  gain  the  sovereignty  of  Greece.  To  that  end,  he 
presently  possessed  himself  of  Elatea,  and  brought  all  his  forces 
thither,  with  a  design  to  fall  upon  the  Athenians,  hoping  easily  to 
overcome  them,  since  they  were  not  (as  he  conceived)  prepared 
for  war,  by  reason  of  the  peace  lately  made  with  them  ;  which  fell 
out  accordingly.  For  after  the  taking  of  Elatea,  some  hastened  in 
the  night  to  Athens,  informing  them  that  Elatea  was  taken  by  the 
Macedonians,  and  that  Philip  was  designing  to  invade  Attica  with 
all  his  forces.  The  Athenian  commanders,  surprised  with  the  sud- 
denness of  the  thing,  sent  for  all  the  trumpeters,  and  commanded 
an  alarm  to  be  sounded  all  night :  upon  which,  the  report  flew 
through  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  fear  roused  up  the  courage  of  the 
citizens.  As  soon  as  day  appeared,  the  people,  without  any  sum- 
mons from  the  magistrate  (as  the  custom  was),  all  flocked  to  the 
theatre.  To  which  place,  as  soon  as  the  commanders  came,  with 
the  messenger  that  brought  the  news,  and  had  declared  to  them 
the  business,  fear  and  silence  filled  the  theatre,  and  none  who 
were  used  to  influence  the  people  had  a  heart  to  give  any  advice. 
And  although  a  crier  called  out  to  such  as  ought  to  declare  their 
minds,  what  was  to  be  done  for  their  common  security,  yet  none 
appeared  who  offered  any  thing  of  advice  in  the  present  exigency. 
The  people  therefore,  in  great  terror  and  amazement,  cast  their 
eyes  upon  Demosthenes,  who  stood  up  and  bid  them  be  courageous, 
and  advised  them  forthwith  to  send  ambassadors  to  Thebes,  to  treat 
with  the  Boeotians  to  join  with  them  in  defence  of  the  common 


566  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

liberty  ;  for  the  shortness  of  time  (he  said)  would  not  admit  of  an 
embassy  of  aid  from  the  other  confederates,  for  that  the  king  would 
probably  invade  Attica  within  two  days  ;  and  seeing  that  he  must 
march  through  Boeotia,  the  main  and  only  assistance  was  to  be  ex- 
pected from  them.  And  it  was  not  to  be  doubted,  but  that  Philip, 
who  was  in  league  with  the  Boeotians,  would  in  his  march  solicit 
them  to  make  war  upon  the  Athenians.  The  people  approved  of 
his  advice,  and  a  decree  was  forthwith  recorded,  that  an  embassy 
should  be  despatched  as  Demosthenes  had  advised.  But  then  it 
was  debated,  who  was  the  most  eloquent  person,  and  so  most  fit  to 
undertake  this  affair.  Whereupon,  Demosthenes  being  pitched  on 
to  be  the  man,  he  readily  complied,  forthwith  hastened  away,  pre- 
vailed with  the  Boeotians,  and  returned  to  Athens.  The  Athenians 
therefore,  having  now  doubled  their  forces  by  the  accession  of  the 
Boeotians,  began  again  to  be  in  good  heart;  and  presently  made 
Chares  and  Lysicles  generals,  with  command  to  march  with  the 
whole  army  into  Boeotia.  All  the  youth  readily  offered  themselves 
to  be  enlisted,  and  therefore  the  army  with  a  swift  march  came 
suddenly  to  Chseronea  in  Boeotia.  The  Boeotians  wondered  at  the 
quickness  of  their  approach,  and  were  thereupon  as  diligent  them- 
selves, and  hastening  to  their  arms,  marched  away  to  meet  the 
Athenians;   and  being  joined,  they  there  expected  the  enemy. 

Philip  indeed  had  first  sent  ambassadors  to  the  council  of  the 
Boeotians,  amongst  whom  the  most  famous  was  Python  ;  for  he 
was  so  eminent  for  eloquence,  that  in  the  senate  he  was  set  up  to 
encounter  Demosthenes  in  the  business  relating  to  the  confederacy, 
excelling  indeed  the  rest  by  far,  but  judged  inferior  to  Demosthenes. 
Demosthenes  himself,  in  one  of  his  orations,  glories  (as  if  he  had 
done  some  mighty  thing)  in  a  speech  of  his  against  this  orator,  in 
these  words  :  —  "  Then  I  yielded  not  a  jot  to  Python,  strutting  in 
his  confidence,  as  if  he  would  have  overwhelmed  me  with  a  torrent 
of  words."  However,  though  Philip  could  not  prevail  with  the 
Boeotians  to  be  his  confederates,  yet  he  resolved  to  fight  with  them 
both.  To  this  end  (after  a  stay  for  some  time  for  those  forces  that 
were  to  join  him),  he  marched  into  Boeotia  with  an  army  of  at 
least  thirty  thousand  foot,  and  two  thousand  horse.  Both  armies 
were  now  ready  to  engage,  for  courage  and  valour  neither  giving 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  567 

place  to  the  other ;  but  as  to  number  of  men,  and  skill  in  martial 
affairs,  the  king  was  far  superior.  For,  having  fought  very  many 
battles,  and  for  the  most  part  coming  off  a  conqueror,  he  had  gained 
much  experience  in  matters  of  war;  on  the  other  hand,  Iphicrates, 
Chabrias,  and  Timotheus  (the  Athenians'  best  commanders),  were 
now  dead  ;  and  Chares,  the  chief  of  them  that  were  left,  differed 
but  little  from  a  common  soldier,  as  to  the  wisdom  and  conduct 
of  a  general.  About  sun-rising,  the  armies  on  both  sides  drew  up 
in  battalia.  The  king  ordered  his  son  Alexander  (who  was  then 
newly  come  to  man's  estate,  and  had  even  at  that  time  given  evi- 
dent demonstration  of  his  valour,  and  the  sprightliness  of  his  spirit 
in  managing  affairs)  to  command  one  wing,  joining  with  him  some 
of  the  best  of  his  commanders.  He  himself,  with  a  choice  body 
of  men,  commanded  the  other  wing,  and  placed  and  disposed  the 
regiments  and  brigades  in  such  posts  and  stations  as  the  present 
occasion  required.  The  Athenians  marshalled  their  army  according 
to  the  several  nations,  and  committed  one  part  to  the  Boeotians, 
and  commanded  the  rest  themselves.  At  length  the  armies  en- 
gaged, and  a  fierce  and  bloody  battle  was  fought,  which  continued 
a  long  time  with  great  slaughter  on  both  sides,  uncertain  which 
way  victory  would  incline,  until  Alexander,  earnest  to  give  -an  in- 
dication of  his  valour  to  his  father,  charged  with  a  more  than  ordi- 
nary heat  and  vigour,  and,  being  assisted  by  many  stout  and  brave 
men,  was  the  first  that  broke  through  the  main  body  of  the  enemy 
next  to  him,  with  the  slaughter  of  many,  and  bore  down  all  before 
him  ;  and,  when  those  that  seconded  him  did  the  like,  then  the 
regiments  next  to  the  former  were  broke  to  pieces.  At  length, 
the  earth  being  strewed  with  heaps  of  dead  carcases,  those  with 
Alexander  first  put  the  wing  opposed  to  them  to  flight.  The  king 
himself,  likewise,  at  the  head  of  this  regiment,  fought  with  no  less 
courage  and  resolution  ;  and,  that  the  glory  of  the  victory  might 
not  be  attributed  to  his  son,  he  forced  the  enemy  opposed  to  him 
to  give  ground,  and  at  length  totally  routed  them,  and  so  was  the 
chief  instrument  of  the  victory.  There  were  above  a  thousand 
Athenians  killed  in  this  battle,  and  no  fewer  than  two  thousand 
taken  prisoners.  A  great  number  likewise  of  the  Boeotians  were 
slain,  and  many  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 


568  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

After  the  battle,  Philip  set  up  a  trophy,  and,  having  given  lib- 
erty for  the  burying  of  the  dead,  he  sacrificed  to  the  gods  for  the 
victory,  and  distributed  rewards  to  the  soldiers  who  had  signalised 
their  valour,  according  as  every  one  had  deserved. 

Some  report,  that  Philip,  having  appointed  a  wanton  and  luxuri- 
ous banquet  with  his  friends,  in  ostentation  of  his  victory,  in  his 
cups  passing  through  the  throng  of  the  prisoners,  most  contume- 
liously  taunted  the  miserable  wretches  with  their  misfortune.  Where- 
upon Demades  the  orator,  one  of  the  captives,  spoke  boldly  to  him, 
and  framed  a  discourse,  in  order  to  curb  the  pride  and  petulance 
of  the  king,  in  words  to  this  effect — "Since  Fortune,  O  king,  has 
represented  thee  like  Agamemnon,  art  thou  not  ashamed  to  act 
the  part  of  Thersites  ?  "  With  this  sharp  reproof,  they  say,  Philip 
was  so  startled,  that  he  wholly  changed  his  former  course,  and  not 
only  laid  aside  the  coronets,  and  all  other  badges  of  pride  and  wan- 
tonness that  attended  his  festivals,  but,  with  admiration,  released 
the  man  that  had  reprehended  him,  and  advanced  him  to  places  of 
honour.  In  conclusion,  he  became  so  far  complaisant,  and  moulded 
into  the  civilities  of  Athens,  through  his  converse  with  Demades, 
that  he  released  all  the  captives  without  ransom  ;  and,  remitting 
his  pride  and  haughtiness  (the  constant  attendant  upon  victory), 
he  sent  ambassadors  to  Athens,  and  renewed  the  peace  with  them ; 
and,  placing  a  garrison  in  Thebes,  made  peace  likewise  with  the 
Boeotians. 

4.  PLANS   FOR  THE  INVASION  OF  ASIA 

Diodorus,  XVI,  Ixxxix,  1-3  (tr.  Booth,  Vol.  II,  pp.  152-153) 

Phrynichus  bore  the  office  of  chief  magistrate  of  Athens,  and 
Titus  Manlius  Torquatus,  and  Publius  Decius,  were  invested  with 
the  consular  dignity  at  Rome,  when  Philip,  bearing  himself  very 
haughtily,  on  account  of  his  victory  at  Chasronea,  and  having  struck 
a  terror  into  the  most  eminent  cities  of  Greece,  made  it  his  great 
business  to  be  chosen  generalissimo  of  all  Greece.  It  being  there- 
fore noised  abroad,  that  he  would  make  war  upon  the  Persians,  for 
the  advantage  of  the  Grecians,  and  that  he  would  revenge  the 
impiety  by  them  committed  against  things  sacred  to  the  gods,  he 
presently  won  the  hearts  of  the  Grecians. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  569 

He  was  very  liberal  and  courteous  likewise  to  all,  both  private 
men  and  communities,  and  published  to  the  cities,  that  he  had  a 
desire  to  consult  with  them  concerning  matters  relating  to  the  pub- 
lic good.  Whereupon  a  general  council  was  called,  and  held  at 
Corinth,  where  he  declared  his  design  to  make  war  upon  the 
Persians,  and  what  probable  grounds  there  were  of  success,  and 
therefore  desired  the  council  to  join  with  him  as  confederates  in 
the  war. 

At  length  he  was  created  general  of  all  Greece,  with  absolute 
power,  and  thereupon  he  made  mighty  preparations  for  that  ex- 
pedition ;  and,  having  ordered  what  quota  of  men  every  city  should 
send  forth,  he  returned  into  Macedonia.  And  thus  stood  the  affairs 
and  concerns  of  Philip. 

The  following  passages  will  suggest  how  Philip's  plan  seemed  to 
the  Greeks,  some  of  whom  by  compulsion  or  because  of  sympathy 
with  the  plan  became  his  allies.  The  Greek  states  were  as  usual 
divided  not  only  among  themselves  but  also  within  themselves. 

In  Athens,  for  instance,  there  were  those  who  looked  at  Philip's 
policy  in  a  broad  way  and  thought  that  it  stood  for  a  fine  large 
idea;  others  in  a  craven  spirit  advocated  alliance  because  of  Philip's 
great  strength  ;  while  on  the  other  hand  men  like  Demosthenes, 
who  regarded  Philip  as  a  mere  barbarian  and  outsider,  advocated 
resistance  to  the  last  ditch. 

Isocrates  was  one  of  the  first  group.  He  felt  that  in  Philip  there 
had  at  last  come  the  man  who  was  fitted  to  carr)^  out  the  dream  of 
pan-Hellenic  unity  which  he  never  tired  of  reiterating.  He  be- 
lieved that  the  leadership  of  Philip  was  consistent  with  Greek 
independence,  and  as  far  as  we  can  see  it  was  only  when  Philip 
needed  to  make  a  special  point  or  to  make  an  example  of  a  re- 
bellious city  that  he  adopted  unnecessary  severity.  Certainly  he 
had  a  great  admiration  for  Athens,  and  his  highest  ambition  was 
to  be  regarded  as  a  Greek  among  Greeks  and  so  be  chosen  as 
president  of  the  Amphictionic  Council. 


570  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

When  it  was  impossible  for  him  with  honor  to  keep  out  of  war 
with  Athens,  as  well  as  after  Chaeronea,  he  treated  his  conquered 
enemy  with  great  moderation, 

IsocRATES,  Philippus,  V,  14-16 

Knowing  these  things,  I  elected  to  address  my  discourse  to  you, 
not  making  this  choice  to  win  your  favour,  although  it  is  true, 
I  should  consider  it  of  great  importance  to  speak  in  a  manner 
acceptable  to  you,  but  it  was  not  to  this  end  that  I  directed  my 
thoughts.  But  I  saw  that  all  the  other  men  of  repute  were  living 
under  the  rule  of  states  and  laws,  without  power  to  do  anything 
but  obey  orders,  and  besides  were  far  too  weak  for  the  enterprise 
which  I  shall  propose,  while  to  you  alone  had  fortune  given  full 
power  to  send  ambassadors  to  whomsoever  you  chose  and  to  receive 
them  from  whomsoever  you  pleased,  and  to  say  whatever  you  should 
deem  it  expedient  to  say,  and  besides  this,  that  you  were  the  pos- 
sessor to  a  greater  degree  than  any  man  in  Hellas  of  wealth  and 
power,  the  only  two  things  in  existence  which  can  both  persuade 
and  compel ;  things,  too,  which  I  think  will  be  required  by 
the  enterprise  which  I  am  going  to  propose.  For  my  intention 
is  to  advise  you  to  take  the  lead  both  in  securing  the  harmony 
of  Hellas  and  in  conducting  the  expedition  against  the  barba- 
rians ;  and  persuasion  is  expedient  with  the  Greeks,  and  force 
useful  with  the  barbarians.  Such,  then,  is  the  general  scope  of 
my  discourse. 

IsocRATES,  Philippus,  V,  30-31 

I  will  now  direct  my  remarks  to  my  subject  itself.  I  say  that, 
while  neglecting  none  of  your  private  interests,  you  ought  to 
try  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between  Argos,  Sparta,  Thebes, 
and  our  state ;  for  if  you  are  able  to  bring  these  together,  you 
will  have  no  difficulty  in  causing  the  other  states  to  agree;  for 
they  are  all  under  the  influence  of  those  which  I  have  mentioned, 
and  when  in  fear  take  refuge  with  one  or  other  of  those  states, 
and  draw  their  succours  from  thence.  So  that  if  you  can  per- 
suade four  states  only  to  be  wise,  you  will  release  the  rest  also 
from  many  evils. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  571 

ISOCRATES,  rhilippus,  V,  68-71 

Now  consider  the  fitness  of  devoting  yourself  mainly  to  enter- 
prises of  that  kind,  in  which  by  success  you  will  place  your  reputa- 
tion in  competition  with  the  first  and  foremost,  and  if  you  fail  in 
your  expectation  you  will  at  least  win  the  goodwill  of  Hellas,  the 
acquisition  of  which  is  a  far  nobler  thing  than  the  forcible  capture 
of  many  Greek  cities.  For  such  achievements  bring  envy  and  ill- 
will  and  much  evil  speaking,  but  the  course  which  I  have  advised 
involves  none  of  these  things.  Nay,  if  some  god  should  give  you 
the  choice  of  the  kind  of  pursuit  and  occupation  in  which  you  would 
long  to  pass  your  life,  you  would  choose  no  other,  if  you  took  my 
advice,  in  preference  to  this.  For  not  only  will  you  be  deemed 
happy  by  others,  but  you  will  recognize  your  own  bliss.  For  what 
could  surpass  the  happiness  of  your  position,  when  from  the  greatest 
states  the  men  of  most  renown  are  come  as  ambassadors  to  your 
throne,  and  you  take  counsel  with  them  about  the  common  welfare, 
for  which  no  other  man  will  appear  to  have  taken  such  thought : 
when,  further,  you  perceive  that  the  whole  of  Hellas  is  on  tiptoe 
in  regard  to  the  proposals  you  may  make,  and  no  one  is  indifferent 
to  what  is  decided  upon  at  your  court,  but  some  make  inquiries 
concerning  the  state  of  affairs,  others  pray  to  Heaven  that  you  may 
not  fail  to  obtain  the  object  of  your  desires,  while  others  are  afraid 
that  something  may  happen  to  you  before  you  have  accomplished 
your  undertaking  1  If  you  should  succeed,  you  would  have  a  right 
to  be  proud,  and  could  not  help  feeling  highly  delighted  all  your 
life  in  the  knowledge  that  you  had  been  at  the  head  of  so  great  an 
undertaking.  Who  of  the  number  of  those  who  are  endowed  with 
even  moderate  reasoning  powers  would  not  exhort  you  to  give  the 
preference  to  such  actions  as  are  able  to  produce  at  the  same  time 
the  fruits  of  surpassing  pleasure  and  imperishable  honour .? 

ISOCRATES,  Philippus,  V,  83-86 

In  regard  to  myself  and  the  course  of  action  you  ought  to  pursue 
in  reference  to  the  Hellenes,  you  have  heard  nearly  all  I  have  to 
say ;  concerning  the  expedition  to  Asia,  I  will  give  my  advice  to 
the  cities,  which  I  said  it  should  be  your  task  to  reconcile,  as  to  the 
proper  manner  of  carrying  on  war  against  the  barbarians,  when  I 


572  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

see  them  united  ;  at  present,  I  will  address  myself  to  you,  although 
not  with  the  same  feelings  as  at  the  time  when  I  wrote  on  the  same 
subject.  For  then  I  invited  my  hearers  to  cover  me  with  laughter 
and  contempt,  if  I  should  appear  to  have  spoken  in  a  manner  un- 
worthy of  the  position  of  affairs,  of  my  own  reputation,  and  of  the 
time  spent  on  the  composition  of  my  speech,  whereas  now  I  am 
afraid  that  perhaps  my  discourse  may  fall  far  short  of  the  claims 
I  have  advanced.  Besides,  the  speech  I  delivered  at  the  festival, 
which  has  afforded  abundant  material  to  those  who  devote  them- 
selves to  the  study  of  practical  philosophy,  has  greatly  crippled  my 
own  resources.  For  I  neither  wish  to  repeat  what  I  have  already 
written,  nor  can  I  find  anything  new  to  say.  However,  I  must  not 
on  that  account  shrink  from  the  duty,  but  must  say  whatever  pre- 
sents itself  as  likely  to  assist  in  persuading  you  to  undertake  the 
task  which  is  the  subject  of  my  speech.  For  even  should  I  fall 
short  in  any  respect,  and  prove  unable  to  write  after  the  style  of  my 
former  publications,  yet  I  think  that  I  shall  at  least  be  able  to  give  an 
interesting  outline  to  those  who  are  able  to  fill  in  and  complete  it. 
I  think  that  I  have  commenced  my  whole  discourse  in  such  a 
manner  as  befits  those  who  recommend  a  campaign  against  Asia. 
For  nothing  ought  to  be  done  until  one  finds  the  Hellenes  doing 
one  of  two  things  :  either  rendering  actual  assistance,  or  showing 
themselves  decidedly  favourable  to  the  undertaking.  Agesilaus, 
although  he  had  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  prudent  amongst 
the  Lacedaemonians,  neglected  this,  not  from  feebleness  of  intellect, 
but  from  ambition. 

IsocRATES,  PhilippHs,  V,  127-131 

For  these  reasons  I  think  that  it  is  to  your  interest,  when  every- 
one else  is  so  cowardly  minded,  to  put  yourself  at  the  head  of  the 
expedition  against  the  King.  And  while  it  is  the  duty  of  the  others, 
who  are  descendants  of  Heracles,  and  are  united  by  polity  and  laws, 
to  love  that  state  in  which  they  happen  to  dwell,  it  behoves  you, 
as  one  who  has  been  released  from  individual  obligations,  to  look 
upon  the  whole  of  Hellas  as  your  fatherland,  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  father  of  your  race,  and  to  be  ready  to  face  danger  on  its 
behalf  as  readily  as  on  behalf  of  those  who  are  your  especial  care. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  573 

Perhaps  some  of  those  who  are  fit  to  do  nothing  else  may  ven- 
ture to  blame  me,  because  I  have  chosen  to  exhort  you  to  under- 
take the  campaign  against  the  barbarians  and  the  care  of  all  the 
Hellenes,  and  have  passed  over  my  own  city.  Now,  if  I  were  under- 
taking to  address  myself  on  these  points  to  others  rather  than  to 
my  own  native  city,  which  has  thrice  freed  Hellas,  twice  from  the 
barbarians,  and  once  from  the  rule  of  Lacedaemon,  I  would  allow 
that  I  was  wrong  ;  but,  as  it  is,  it  will  be  seen  that  I  have  exhorted 
Athens  before  all  other  cities,  with  the  greatest  earnestness  of 
which  I  was  capable,  to  undertake  the  task,  but,  when  I  perceived 
that  she  thought  less  of  what  I  said  than  of  those  who  rave  upon 
the  platform,  I  left  her  alone,  but,  notwithstanding,  did  not  aban- 
don my  efforts.  Wherefore  all  might  fitly  praise  me  because,  as 
far  as  the  powers  I  possess  permitted  me,  I  have  persistently  waged 
war  against  the  barbarians,  accused  those  who  did  not  hold  the  same 
opinion  as  myself,  and  endeavoured  to  induce  those,  whom  I  hope 
will  be  best  able  to  do  so,  to  render  some  service  to  the  Hellenes, 
and  to  deprive  the  barbarians  of  their  present  prosperity.  For  this 
reason  I  now  address  my  words  to  you,  well  aware  that  many  will  be 
jealous  of  them  when  uttered  by  me,  but  that  all  will  rejoice  alike  at 
the  same  undertakings  when  accomplished  by  you.  For,  although 
no  one  has  taken  part  in  what  I  have  proposed,  everyone  will  think 
that  he  is  entitled  to  a  share  in  the  advantages  that  will  result  from  it. 

IsocRATES,  Philippus,  V,  154-155 

It  remains  to  summarize  what  I  have  said  before,  that,  in  as  few 
words  as  possible,  you  may  understand  the  chief  point  of  my  advice. 
I  say  that  you  ought  to  be  the  benefactor  of  the  Hellenes,  the  king 
of  Macedonia,  and  the  ruler  over  as  many  barbarians  as  possible.  If 
you  succeed  in  this,  all  will  be  grateful  to  you,  the  Hellenes  by 
reason  of  advantages  enjoyed,  the  Macedonians,  if  you  govern  them 
like  a  king  and  not  like  a  despot,  and  the  rest  of  mankind,  if  they 
are  freed  by  you  from  barbarian  sway  and  gain  the  protection  of 
Hellas.  How  far  my  composition  is  duly  proportioned  and  accurate 
in  expression,  I  may  reasonably  expect  to  learn  from  you  my  hear- 
ers ;  but  that  no  one  could  give  you  advice  that  is  better  than  this, 
or  more  adapted  to  present  circumstances,  of  that  I  feel  convinced. 


574  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

III.    Demosthenes 

1.  HIS   POLICY   OF   RESISTANCE 

Demosthenes,  however,  was  Philip's  inveterate  foe  and  strongest 
adversary.  Diodorus  speaks  of  Demosthenes  as  the  most  eminent 
in  pohcy  and  eloquence  of  all  the  Greeks,  Sober  critics  are  in- 
clined to  believe  that  the  brilliance  of  his  oratory  blinds  us  to  the 
unsoundness  of  his  political  views,  but  no  one  can  fail  to  be  thrilled 
by  the  gallant  spirit  with  which  he  fought  a  losing  cause. 

Plutarch,  Demosthenes,  12-13 

His  first  entering  into  public  business  was  much  about  the  time 
of  the  Phocian  war,  as  he  himself  affirms,  and  may  be  collected  from 
his  Philippic  orations.  For  of  these,  some  were  made  after  that 
action  was  over,  and  the  earliest  of  them  refer  to  its  concluding 
events.  It  is  certain  that  he  engaged  in  the  accusation  of  Midias 
when  he  was  but  two-and-thirty  years  old,  having  as  yet  no  interest 
or  reputation  as  a  politician.  And  this  it  was,  I  consider,  that  in- 
duced him  to  withdraw  the  action,  and  accept  a  -sum  of  money 
as  a  compromise.    For  of  himself  — 

He  was  no  easy  or  good-natured  man, 

but  of  a  determined  disposition,  and  resolute  to  see  himself  righted  ; 
however,  finding  it  a  hard  matter  and  above  his  strength  to  deal 
with  Midias,  a  man  so  well  secured  on  all  sides  with  money,  elo- 
quence, and  friends,  he  yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  those  who 
interceded  for  him.  But  had  he  seen  any  hopes  or  possibility  of 
prevailing,  I  cannot  believe  that  three  thousand  drachmas  could 
have  taken  off  the  edge  of  his  revenge.  The  object  which  he 
chose  for  himself  in  the  commonwealth  was  noble  and  just,  the 
defence  of  the  Grecians  against  Philip ;  and  in  this  he  behaved 
himself  so  worthily  that  he  soon  grew  famous,  and  excited  atten- 
tion everywhere  for  his  eloquence  and  courage  in  speaking.  He 
was  admired  through  all  Greece,  the  King  of  Persia  courted 
him,  and  by  Philip  himself  he  was  more  esteemed  than  all 
the  other  orators.    His  very  enemies  were  forced  to  confess  that 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  575 

they  had  to  do  with  a  man  of  mark  ;  for  such  a  character  even 
yEschines  and  Hyperides  give  him,  where  they  accuse  and  speak 
against  him. 

So  that  I  cannot  imagine  what  ground  Theopompus  had  to  say 
that  Demosthenes  was  of  a  fickle,  unsettled  disposition,  and  could 
not  long  continue  firm  either  to  the  same  men  or  the  same  affairs  ; 
whereas  the  contrary  is  most  apparent,  for  the  same  party  and  post 
in  politics  which  he  held  from  the  beginning,  to  these  he  kept  con- 
stant to  the  end  ;  and  was  so  far  from  leaving  them  while  he  lived 
that  he  chose  rather  to  forsake  his  life  than  his  purpose.  He  was 
never  heard  to  apologise  for  shifting  sides  like  Demades,  who 
would  say  he  often  spoke  against  himself,  but  never  against  the 
city  ;  nor  as  Melanopus,  who,  being  generally  against  Callistratus, 
but' being  often  bribed  off  with  money,  was  wont  to  tell  the  people, 
"  The  man  indeed  is  my  enemy,  but  we  must  submit  for  the  good 
of  our  country"  ;  nor  again'as  Nicodemus,  the  Messenian,  who 
having  first  appeared  on  Cassander's  side,  and  afterwards  taken 
part  with  Demetrius,  said  the  two  things  were  not  in  themselves 
contrary,-  it  being  always  most  advisable  to  obey  the  conqueror. 
We  have  nothing  of  this  kind  to  say  against  Demosthenes,  as  one 
who  would  turn  aside  or  prevaricate,  either  in  word  or  deed.  There 
could  not  have  been  less  variation  in  his  public  acts  if  they  had  all 
been  played,  so  to  say,  from  first  to  last,  from  the  same  score. 
Panaetius,  the  philosopher,  said  that  most  of  his  orations  are  so 
written  as  if  they  were  to  prove  this  one  conclusion,  that  what  is 
honest  and  virtuous  is  for  itself  only  to  be  chosen  ;  as  that  of  the 
Crown,  that  against  Aristocrates,  that  for  the  Immunities,  and  the 
Philippics  ;  in  all  which  he  persuades  his  fellow-citizens  to  pursue 
not  that  which  seems  most  pleasant,  easy,  or  profitable  ;  but  de- 
clares, over  and  over  again,  that  they  ought  in  the  first  place  to 
prefer  that  which  is  just  and  honourable  before  their  own  safety 
and  preservation.  So  that  if  he  had  kept  his  hands  clean,  if  his 
courage  for  the  wars  had  been  answerable  to  the  generosity  of  his 
principles,  and  the  dignity  of  his  orations,  he  might  deservedly 
have  his  name  placed,  not  in  the  number  of  such  orators  as  Moero- 
cles,  Polyeuctus,  and  Hyperides,  but  in  the  highest  rank  with 
Cimon,  Thucydides,  and  Pericles. 


576  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Plutarch,  Demosthenes,  17-18 

But  when  things  came  at- last  to  war,  Phihp  on  the  one  side 
being  not  able  to  live  in  peace,  and  the  Athenians,  on  the  other 
side,  being  stirred  up  by  Demosthenes,  the  first  action  he  put  them 
upon  was  the  reducing  of  Euboea,  which,  by  the  treachery  of  the 
tyrants,  was  brought  under  subjection  to  Philip.  And  on  his  propo- 
sition, the  decree  was  voted,  and  they  crossed  over  thither  and 
chased  the  Macedonians  out  of  the  island.  The  next  was  the  relief 
of  the  Byzantines  and  Perinthians,  whom  the  Macedonians  at  that 
time  were  attacking.  He  persuaded  the  people  to  lay  aside  their 
enmity  against  these  cities,  to  forget  the  offences  committed  by 
them  in  the  Confederate  War,  and  to  send  them  such  succours  as 
eventually  saved  and  secured  them.  Not  long  after,  he  undertook 
an  embassy  through  the  states  of  Greece,  which  he  solicited  and 
so  far  incensed  against  Philip  that,  a  few  only  excepted,  he  brought 
them  all  into  a  general  league.  So  that,  besides  the  forces  com- 
posed of  the  citizens  themselves,  there  was  an  army  consisting  of 
fifteen  thousand  foot  and  two  thousand  horse,  and  the  money  to 
pay  these  strangers  was  levied  and  brought  in  with  great  cheerful- 
ness. On  which  occasion  it  was,  says  Theophrastus,  on  the  allies 
requesting  that  their  contributions  for  the  war  might  be  ascertained 
and  stated,  Crobylus,  the  orator,  made  use  of  the  saying,  "  War 
can't  be  fed  at  so  much  a  day."  Now  was  all  Greece  up  in  arms, 
and  in  great  expectation  what  would  be  the  event.  The  Euboeans, 
the  Achaeans,  the  Corinthians,  the  Megarians,  the  Leucadians,  and 
Corcyraeans,  their  people  and  their  cities,  were  all  joined  together 
in  a  league.  But  the  hardest  task  was  yet  behind,  left  for  Demos- 
thenes, to  draw  the  Thebans  into  this  confederacy  with  the  rest. 
Their  country  bordered  next  upon  Attica,  they  had  great  forces 
for  the  war,  and  at  that  time  they  were  accounted  the  best  soldiers 
of  all  Greece,  but  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  make  them  break  with 
Philip,  who,  by  many  good  offices,  had  so  lately  obliged  them  in  the 
Phocian  war  ;  especially  considering  how  the  subjects  of  dispute  and 
variance  between  the  two  cities  were  continually  renewed  and  exasper- 
ated by  petty  quarrels,  arising  out  of  the  proximity  of  their  frontiers. 

But  after  Philip,  being  now  grown  high  and  puffed  up  with 
his  good  success  at  Amphissa,  on  a  sudden  surprised  Elatea  and 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  577 

possessed  himself  of  Phocis,  and  the  Athenians  were  in  a  great 
consternation,  none  durst  venture  to  rise  up  to  speak,  no  one  knew 
what  to  say,  all  were  at  a  loss,  and  the  whole  assembly  in  silence 
and  perplexity,  in  this  extremity  of  affairs  Demosthenes  was  the 
only  man  who  appeared,  his  counsel  to  them  being  alliance  with 
the  Thebans.  And  having  in  other  ways  encouraged  the  people, 
and,  as  his  manner  was,  raised  their  spirits  up  with  hopes,  he, 
with  some  others,  was  sent  ambassador  to  Thebes.  To  oppose  him, 
as  Marsyas  says,  Philip  also  sent  thither  his  envoys,  Amyntas  and 
Clearchus,  two  Macedonians,  besides  Daochus,  a  Thessalian,  and 
Thrasydaeus.  Now  the  Thebans,  in  their  consultations,  were  well 
enough  aware  what  suited  best  with  their  own  interest,  but  every 
one  had  before  his  eyes  the  terrors  of  war,  and  their  losses  in  the 
Phocian  troubles  were  still  recent :  but  such  was  the  force  and 
power  of  the  orator,  fanning  up,  as  Theopompus  says,  their  cour- 
age, and  firing  their  emulation,  that,  casting  away  every  thought 
of  prudence,  fear,  or  obligation,  in  a  sort  of  divine  possession,  they 
chose  the  path  of  honour,  to  which  his  words  invited  them.  And 
this  success,  thus  accomplished  by  an  orator,  was  thought  to  be 
so  glorious  and  of  such  consequence,  that  Philip  immediately  sent 
heralds  to  treat  and  petition  for  a. peace  :  all  Greece  was  aroused, 
and  up  in  arms  to  help.  And  the  commanders-in-chief,  not  only 
of  Attica,  but  of  Boeotia,  applied  themselves  to  Demosthenes,  and 
observed  his  directions.  He  managed  all  the  assemblies  of  the 
Thebans,  no  less  than  those  of  the  Athenians  ;  he  was  beloved 
both  by  the  one  and  by  the  other,  and  exercised  the  same  supreme 
authority  with  both  ;  and  that  not  by  unfair  means,  or  without  just 
cause,  as  Theopompus  professes,  but  indeed  it  was  no  more  than 
was  due  to  his  merit. 

2.   AGGRESSIVE  ACTION  URGED 

The  public  speeches  of  Demosthenes  are  of  course  the  best  ex- 
pression of  his  own  policy.  He  claimed  to  see  farther  ahead  than 
most  of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  reproached  them  for  their  apathy 
in  having  allowed  Philip  to  get  such  a  good  start  in  his  aggressive 
policy  before  they  woke  up  to  the  fact.     Remissness,  tardiness, 


57^  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

indifference,  negligence  —  these,  according  to  him,  are  the  true 
causes  and  not  Macedonian  strength  as  contrasted  with  Athenian 
weakness.  He  urges  Athens  to  take  immediate  action  and  pre- 
pare a  fleet  and  troops,  to  adopt  some  definite  policy,  and  to  be 
ready  for  what  may  occur  instead  of  wasting  endless  time  in 
fruitless  discussion. 

Demosthenes,  First  Philippic,  2-7 

First  I  say,  you  must  not  despond,  Athenians,  under  your  pres- 
ent circumstances,  wretched  as  they  are ;  for  that  which  is  worst  in 
them  as  regards  the  past,  is  best  for  the  future.  What  do  I  mean  ? 
That  your  affairs  are  amiss,  men  of  Athens,  because  you  do  nothing 
which  is  needful ;  if,  notwithstanding  you  performed  your  duties, 
it  were  the  same,  there  would  be  no  hope  of  amendment. 

Consider  next,  what  you  know  by  report,  and  men  of  experience 
remember ;  how  vast  a  power  the  Lacedaemonians  had  not  long 
ago,  yet  how  nobly  and  becomingly  you  consulted  the  dignity  of 
Athens,  and  undertook  the  war  against  them  for  the  rights  of 
Greece.  Why  do  I  mention  this  t  To  show  and  convince  you, 
Athenians,  that  nothing,  if  you  take  precaution,  is  to  be  feared, 
nothing,  if  you  are  negligent,  goes  as  you  desire.  Take  for  exam- 
ples the  strength  of  the  Lacedaemonians  then,  which  you  overcame 
by  attention  to  your  duties,  and  the  insolence  of  this  man  now,  by 
which  through  neglect  of  our  interests  we  are  confounded.  But  if 
any  among  you,  Athenians,  deem  Philip  hard  to  be  conquered,  look- 
ing at  the  magnitude  of  his  existing  power,  and  the  loss  by  us 
of  all  our  strongholds,  they  reason  rightly,  but  should  reflect,  that 
once  we  held  Pydna  and  Potidaea  and  Methone  and  all  the  region 
round  about  as  our  own,  and  many  of  the  nations  now  leagued 
with  him  were  independent  and  free,  and  preferred  our  friendship 
to  his.  Had  Philip  then  taken  it  into  his  head,  that  it  was  difficult 
to  contend  with  Athens,  when  she  had  so  many  fortresses  to  infest 
his  country,  and  he  was  destitute  of  allies,  nothing  that  he  has  ac- 
complished would  he  have  undertaken,  and  never  would  he  have 
acquired  so  large  a  dominion.  But  he  saw  well,  Athenians,  that 
all  these  places  are  the  open  prizes  of  war,  that  the  possessions  of 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  S79 

the  absent  naturally  belong  to  the  present,  those  of  the  remiss  to 
them  that  will  venture  and  toil.  Acting  on  such  principle,  he  has 
won  everything  and  keeps  it,  either  by  way  of  conquest,  or  by 
friendly  attachment  and  alliance  ;  for  all  men  will  side  with  and 
respect  those  whom  they  see  prepared  and  willing  to  make  proper 
exertion.  If  you,  Athenians,  will  adopt  this  principle  now,  though 
you  did  not  before,  and  every  man,  where  he  can  and  ought  to  give 
his  service  to  the  state,  be  ready  to  give  it  without  excuse,  the 
wealthy  to  contribute,  the  able-bodied  to  enlist ;  in  a  word,  plainly, 
if  you  will  become  your  own  masters,  and  cease  each  expecting  to 
do  nothing  himself,  while  his  neighbour  does  everything  for  him, 
you  shall  then  with  heaven's  permission  recover  your  own,  and  get 
back  what  has  been  frittered  away,  and  chastise  Philip. 

Demosthenes,  /v'nY  Philippic^  8-12 

Do  not  imagine  that  his  empire  is  everlastingly  secured  to  him 
as  a  god.  There  are  those  who  hate  and  fear  and  envy  him,  Athe- 
nians, even  among  those  that  seem  most  friendly ;  and  all  feelings 
that  are  in  other  men  belong,  we  may  assume,  to  his  confederates. 
But  now  they  are  all  cowed,  having  no  refuge  through  your  tardiness 
and  indolence,  which  I  say  you  must  abandon  forthwith.  For  you 
see,  Athenians,  the  case,  to  what  pitch  of  arrogance  the  man  has 
advanced  who  leaves  you  not  even  the  choice  of  action  or  inaction, 
but  threatens  and  uses  (they  say)  outrageous  language,  and,  unable 
to  rest  in  possession  of  his  conquests,  continually  widens  their  circle, 
and,  whilst  we  dally  and  delay,  throws  his  net  all  around  us.  When 
then,  Athenians,  when  will  ye  act  as  becomes  you  }  In  what  event? 
In  that  of  necessity,  I  suppose.  And  how  should  we  regard  the 
events  happening  now.?  Methinks,  to  freemen  the  strongest  neces- 
sity is  the  disgrace  of  their  condition.  Or  tell  me,  do  ye  like  walk- 
ing about  and  asking  one  another  :  —  Is  there  any  news  }  Why, 
could  there  be  greater  news  than  a  man  of  Macedonia  subduing 
Athenians,  and  directing  the  affairs  of  Greece  .''  Is  Philip  dead  } 
No,  but  he  is  sick.  And  w^hat  matters  it  to  you  }  Should  anything 
befall  this  man,  you  will  soon  create  another  Philip,  if  you  attend 
to  business  thus.  For  even  he  has  been  exalted  not  so  much 
by  his  own  strength  as  by  our  negligence.    And  again  ;   should 


58o  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

anything  happen  to  him  ;  should  fortune,  wliich  still  takes  better 
care  of  us  than  we  of  ourselves,  be  good  enough  to  accomplish  this  ; 
observe  that,  being  on  the  spot,  you  would  step  in  while  things 
were  in  confusion,  and  manage  them  as  you  pleased  ;  but  as  you 
now  are,  though  occasion  offered  Amphipolis,  you  would  not  be  in 
a  position  to  accept  it,  with  neither  forces  nor  counsels  at  hand. 

Demosthenes,  First  Philippic,  16-27 

First,  then,  Athenians,  I  say  we  must  provide  fifty  warships, 
and  hold  ourselves  prepared,  in  case  of  emergency,  to  embark  and 
sail.  I  require  also  an  equipment  of  transports  for  half  the  cavalry 
and  sufficient  boats.  This  we  must  have  ready  against  his  sudden 
marches  from  his  own  country  to  Thermopylae,  the  Chersonese, 
Olynthus,  and  anywhere  he  likes.  For  he  should  entertain  the 
belief,  that  possibly  you  may  rouse  from  this  over-carelessness,  and 
start  off,  as  you  did  to  Euboea,  and  formerly  (they  say)  to  Haliartus, 
and  very  lately  to  Thermopylae.  And  although  you  should  not  pur- 
sue just  the  course  I  would  advise,  it  is  no  slight  matter  that  Philip, 
knowing  you  to  be  in  readiness — know  it  he  will  for  certain  ;  there 
are  too  many  among  our  own  people  who  report  everything  to  him 
—  may  either  keep  quiet  from  apprehension,  or,  not  heeding  your 
arrangements,  be  taken  off  his  guard,  there  being  nothing  to  pre- 
vent your  sailing,  if  he  give  you  a  chance,  to  attack  his  territories. 
Such  an  armament,  I  say,  ought  instantly  to  be  agreed  upon  and 
provided.  But  besides,  men  of  Athens,  you  should  keep  in  hand 
some  force  that  will  incessantly  make  war  and  annoy  him  :  none 
of  your  ten  or  twenty  thousand  mercenaries,  not  your  forces  on 
paper,  but  one  that  shall  belong  to  the  state,  and,  whether  you 
appoint  one  or  more  generals,  or  this  or  that  man  or  any  other, 
shall  obey  and  follow  him.  Subsistence  too  I  require  for  it.  What 
the  force  shall  be,  how  large,  from  what  source  maintained,  how 
rendered  efficient,  I  will  show  you,  stating  every  particular.  Mer- 
cenaries I  recommend  —  and  beware  of  doing  what  has  often  been 
injurious  —  thinking  all  measures  below  the  occasion,  adopting  the 
strongest  in  your  decrees,  you  fail  to  accomplish  the  least — rather, 
I  say,  perform  and  procure  a  little,  add  to  it  afterwards,  if  it  prove 
insufficient.   I  advise  then  two  thousand  soldiers  in  all,  five  hundred 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  581 

to  be  Athenians,  of  whatever  age  you  think  right,  serving  a 
hmited  time,  not  long,  but  such  time  as  you  think  right,  so  as  to 
relieve  one  another :  the  rest  should  be  mercenaries.  And  with 
them  two  hundred  horse,  fifty  at  least  Athenians,  like  the  foot,  on 
the  same  terms  of  service  ;  and  transports  for  them.  Well ;  what 
besides  ?  Ten  swift  galleys  :  for,  as  Philip  has  a  navy,  we  must 
have  swift  galleys  also,  to  convoy  our  power.  How  shall  subsis- 
tence for  these  troops  be  provided  ?  I  will  state  and  explain  ;  but 
first  let  me  tell  you  why  I  consider  a  force  of  this  amount  sufficient, 
and  why  I  wish  the  men  to  be  citizens. 

Of  that  amount,  Athenians,  because  it  is  impossible  for  us  now 
to  raise  an  army  capable  of  meeting  him  in  the  field  :  we  must 
plunder  and  adopt  such  kind  of  warfare  at  first :  our  force,  there- 
fore, must  not  be  over-large  (for  there  is  not  pay  or  subsistence) 
nor  altogether  mean.  Citizens  I  wish  to  attend  and  go  on  board, 
because  I  hear  that  formerly  the  state  maintained  mercenary  troops 
at  Corinth,  commanded  by  Polystratus  and  Iphicrates  and  Chabrias 
and  some  others,  and  that  you  served  with  them  yourselves ;  and 
I  am  told  that  these  mercenaries  fighting  by  your  side  and  you  by 
theirs  defeated  the  Lacedaemonians.  But  ever  since  your  hirelings 
have  served  by  themselves,  they  have  been  vanquishing  your  friends 
and  allies,  while  your  enemies  have  become  unduly  great.  Just 
glancing  at  the  war  of  our  state,  they  go  off  to  Artabazus  or  any- 
where rather,  and  the  general  follows,  naturally ;  for  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  command  without  giving  pay.  What  therefore  ask  I }  To 
remove  the  excuses  both  of  general  and  soldiers,  by  supplying  pay, 
and  attaching  native  soldiers,  as  inspectors  of  the  general's  conduct. 
The  way  we  manage  things  now  is  a  mockery.  For  if  you  were 
asked  :  Are  you  at  peace,  Athenians  ?  No,  indeed,  you  would  say ; 
we  are  at  war  with  Philip.  Did  you  not  choose  from  yourselves  ten 
captains  and  generals,  and  also  captains  and  two  generals  of  horse  } 
How  are  they  employed  ?  Except  one  man,  whom  you  commission 
on  service  abroad,  the  rest  conduct  your  processions  with  the  sac- 
rificers.  Like  puppet-makers,  you  elect  your  infantry  and  cavalry 
officers  for  the  market-place,  not  for  war.  Consider,  Athenians, 
should  there  not  be  native  captains,  a  native  general  of  horse,  your 
own  commanders,  that  the  force  might  really  be  the  state's  ?    Or 


582  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

should  your  general  of  horse  sail  to  Lemnos,  while  Menelaus  com- 
mands the  cavalry  fighting  for  your  possessions  ?  I  speak  not  as 
objecting  to  the  man,  but  he  ought  to  be  elected  by  you,  whoever 
the  person  be. 

Demosthenes,  First  Philippic,  31-33 

I  think  it  will  assist  your  deliberations  about  the  war  and  the 
whole  arrangements,  to  regard  the  position,  Athenians,  of  the  hos- 
tile country,  and  consider  that  Philip  by  the  winds  and  seasons  of 
the  year  gets  the  start  in  most  of  his  operations,  watching  for  the 
trade-winds  or  the  winter  to  commence  them,  when  we  are  unable 
(he  thinks)  to  reach  the  spot.  On  this  account,  we  must  carry  on  the 
war  not  with  hasty  levies  (or  we  shall  be  too  late  for  everything)  but 
with  a  permanent  force  and  power.  You  may  use  as  winter  quarters 
for  your  troops  Lemnos,  and  Thasus,  and  Sciathus,  and  the  islands 
in  that  neighbourhood,  which  have  harbours  and  corn  and  all  neces- 
saries for  an  army.  In  the  season  of  the  year,  when  it  is  easy  to  put 
ashore  and  there  is  no  danger  from  the  winds,  they  will  easily  take 
their  station  off  the  coast  itself  and  at  the  entrances  of  the  seaports. 

How  and  when  to  employ  the  troops,  the  commander  appointed 
by  you  will  determine  as  occasion  requires.  What  you  must  find 
is  stated  in  my  bill.  If,  men  of  Athens,  you  will  furnish  the  sup- 
plies which  I  mention,  and  then,  after  completing  your  prepara- 
tions of  soldiers,  ships,  cavalry,  will  oblige  the  entire  force  by  law 
to  remain  in  the  service,  and,  while  you  become  your  own  pay- 
masters and  commissaries,  demand  from  your  general  an  account 
of  his  conduct,  you  will  cease  to  be  always  discussing  the  same 
questions  without  forwarding  them  in  the  least,  and  besides, 
Athenians,  you  will  cut  off  his  greatest  revenue. 

Demosthenes,  First  Fhilippic,  41-46 

Yet  you,  Athenians,  with  larger  means  than  any  people — ■ 
ships,  infantry,  cavalry,  and  revenue  —  have  never  up  to  this  day 
made  proper  use  of  any  of  them  ;  and  your  war  with  Philip  differs 
in  no  respect  from  the  boxing  of  barbarians.  For  among  them  the 
party  struck  feels  always  for  the  blow  ;  strike  him  somewhere  else, 
there  go  his  hands  again  ;  ward  or  look  in  the  face  he  cannot  nor 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  583 

will.  So  you,  if  you  hear  of  Philip  in  the  Chersonese,  vote  to  send 
relief  there,  if  at  Thermopylae,  the  same  ;  if  anywhere  else,  you 
run  after  his  heels  up  and  down,  and  are  commanded  by  him  ;  no 
plan  have  you  devised  for  the  war,  no  circumstance  do  you  see 
beforehand,  only  when  you  learn  that  something  is  done,  or  about 
to  be  done.  Formerly  perhaps  this  was  allowable  :  now  it  is  come 
to  a  crisis,  to  be  tolerable  no  longer.  And  it  seems,  men  of  Athens, 
as  if  some  god,  ashamed  for  us  at  our  proceedings,  has  put  this 
activity  into  Philip.  P^or  had  he  been  willing  to  remain  quiet  in 
possession  of  his  conquests  and  prizes,  and  attempted  nothing 
further,  some  of  you,  I  think,  would  be  satisfied  with  a  state  of 
things,  which  brands  our  nation  with  the  shame  of  cowardice  and 
the  foulest  disgrace.  But  by  continually  encroaching  and  grasping 
after  more,  he  may  possibly  rouse  you,  if  you  have  not  altogether 
despaired.  I  marvel,  indeed,  that  none  of  you,  Athenians,  notices 
with  concern  and  anger,  that  the  beginning  of  this  war  was  to 
chastise  Philip,  the  end  is  to  protect  ourselves  against  his  attacks. 
One  thing  is  clear  :  he  will  not  stop,  unless  some  one  oppose  him. 
And  shall  we  wait  for  this  .-'  And  if  you  despatch  empty  galleys 
and  hopes  from  this  or  that  person,  think  ye  all  is  well  ?  Shall  we 
not  embark  ?  Shall  we  not  sail  with  at  least  a  part  of  our  national 
forces,  now  though  not  before  .''  Shall  we  not  make  a  descent  upon 
his  coast .''  Where,  then,  shall  we  land  ?  some  one  asks.  The  war 
itself,  men  of  Athens,  will  discover  the  rotten  parts  of  his  empire, 
if  we  make  a  trial ;  but  if  we  sit  at  home,  hearing  the  orators 
accuse  and  malign  one  another,  no  good  can  ever  be  achieved. 
Methinks,  where  a  portion  of  our  citizens,  though  not  all,  are 
commissioned  with  the  rest,  Pleaven  blesses,  and  Fortune  aids  the 
struggle  :  but  where  you  send  out  a  general  and  an  empty  decree 
and  hopes  from  the  hustings,  nothing  that  you  desire  is  done  ; 
your  enemies  scoff,  and  your  allies  die  for  fear  of  such  an  arma- 
ment. P^or  it  is  impossible  —  aye,  impossible,  for  one  man  to  exe- 
cute all  your  wishes  :  to  promise,  and  assert,  and  accuse  this  or 
that  person,  is  possible  ;  but  so  your  affairs  are  ruined.  The  gen- 
eral commands  wretched  unpaid  hirelings  ;  here  are  persons  easily 
found,  who  tell  you  lies  of  his  conduct ;  you  vote  at  random  from 
what  you  hear  :  what  then  can  be  expected  ? 


584  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

In  particular  Demosthenes  advises  helping  the  Olynthians,  and 
securing  control  in  the  Chersonese. 

Demosthenes,  First  Olynthiac,  8-16 

You  must  not  then,  Athenians,  forego  this  lucky  opportunity, 
nor  commit  the  error  which  you  have  often  done  heretofore.  For 
example,  when  we  returned  from  succouring  the  Euboeans,  and 
Hierax  and  Stratocles  of  Amphipolis  came  to  this  platform,  urging 
us  to  sail  and  receive  possession  of  their  city,  if  we  had  shown  the 
same  zeal  for  ourselves  as  for  the  safety  of  Euboea,  you  would  have 
held  Amphipolis  then  and  been  rid  of  all  the  troubles  that  ensued. 
Again,  when  news  came  that  Pydna,  Potidaea,  Methone,  Pagasae, 
and  the  other  places  (not  to  waste  time  in  enumerating  them)  were 
besieged,  had  we  to  any  one  of  these  in  the  first  instance  carried 
prompt  and  reasonable  succour,  we  should  have  found  Philip  far 
more  tractable  and  humble  now.  But,  by  always  neglecting  the 
present,  and  imagining  the  future  would  shift  for  itself,  we,  O  men 
of  Athens,  have  exalted  Philip,  and  made  him  greater  than  any 
king  of  Macedon  ever  was.  Here  then  is  come  a  crisis,  this  of 
Olynthus,  self-offered  to  the  state,  inferior  to  none  of  the  former. 
And  methinks,  men  of  Athens,  any  man  fairly  estimating  what  the 
gods  have  done  for  us,  notwithstanding  many  untoward  circum- 
stances, might  with  reason  be  grateful  to  them.  Our  numerous 
losses  in  war  may  justly  be  charged  to  our  own  negligence  ;  but 
that  they  happened  not  long  ago,  and  that  an  alliance,  to  counter- 
balance them,  is  open  to  our  acceptance,  I  must  regard  as  mani- 
festations of  divine  favour.  It  is  much  the  same  as  in  money 
matters.  If  a  man  keep  what  he  gets,  he  is  thankful  to  fortune ; 
if  he  lose  it  by  imprudence,  he  loses  withal  his  memory  of  the 
obligation.  So  in  political  affairs,  they  who  misuse  their  opportu- 
nities forget  even  the  good  which  the  gods  send  them  ;  for  every 
prior  event  is  judged  commonly  by  the  last  result.  Wherefore, 
Athenians,  we  must  be  exceedingly  careful  of  our  future  measures, 
that  by  amendment  therein  we  may  efface  the  shame  of  the  past. 
Should  we  abandon  these  men  too,  and  Philip  reduce  OlyntTius, 
let  any  one  tell  me  what  is  to  prevent  him  marching  where  he 
pleases  }   Does  any  one  of  you  Athenians  compute  or  consider  the 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  585. 

means  by  which  PhiHp,  originally  weak,  has  become  great  ?  Hav- 
ing first  taken  Amphipolis,  then  Pydna,  Potidaea  next,  Methone 
afterwards,  he  invaded  Thessaly.  Having  ordered  matters  at 
Pherae,  Pagasae,  Magnesia,  everywhere  exactly  as  he  pleased,  he 
departed  for  Thrace  ;  where,  after  displacing  some  kings  and  es- 
tablishing others,  he  fell  sick  ;  again  recovering,  he  lapsed  not  into 
indolence,  but  instantly  attacked  the  Olynthians.  I  omit  his  expedi- 
tions to  Illyria  and  Paeonia,  that  against  Arymbas,  and  some  others. 
Why,  it  may  be  said,  do  you  mention  all  this  now  ?  That  you, 
Athenians,  may  feel  and  understand  both  the  folly  of  continually 
abandoning  one  thing  after  another,  and  the  activity  which  forms 
part  of  Philip's  habit  and  existence,  which  makes  it  impossible  for 
him  to  rest  content  with  his  achievements.  If  it  be  his  principle, 
ever  to  do  more  than  he  has  done,  and  yours,  to  apply  yourselves 
vigorously  to  nothing,  see  what  the  end  promises  to  be.  Heavens  ! 
which  of  you  is  so  simple  as  not  to  know  that  the  war  yonder  will 
soon  be  here,  if  we  are  careless .?  And  should  this  happen,  I  fear, 
O  Athenians,  that  as  men  who  thoughtlessly  borrow  on  large  inter- 
est, after  a  brief  accommodation,  lose  their  estate,  so  will  it  be  with 
us :  found  to  have  paid  dear  for  our  idleness  and  self-indulgence, 
we  shall  be  reduced  to  many  hard  and  unpleasant  shifts,  and 
struggle  for  the  salvation  of  our  country. 

Demosthenes,  First  Olynthiac,  17-20 

I  say  then,  you  must  give  a  two-fold  assistance  here ;  first,  save 
the  Olynthians  their  towns,  and  send  out  troops  for  that  purpose ; 
secondly,  annoy  the  enemy's  country  with  ships  and  other  troops ; 
omit  either  of  these  courses,  and  I  doubt  the  expedition  will  be 
fruitless.  For  should  he,  suffering  your  incursion,  reduce  Olynthus, 
he  will  easily  march  to  the  defence  of  his  kingdom  ;  or,  should  you 
only  throw  succour  into  Olynthus,  and  he,  seeing  things  out  of 
danger  at  home,  keep  up  a  close  and  vigilant  blockade,  he  must 
in  time  prevail  over  the  besieged.  Your  assistance  therefore  must 
be  effective,  and  two-fold.  • 

Such  are  the  operations  I  advise.  As  to  a  supply  of  money  :  you 
have  money,  Athenians  ;  you  have  a  larger  military  fund  than  any 
people ;  and  you  receive  it  just  as  you  please.    If  ye  will  assign 


586  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

this  to  your  troops,  ye  need  no  further  supply ;  otherwise  ye  need  a 
further,  or  rather  ye  have  none  at  all.  How  then  ?  some  man  may 
exclaim  :  do  you  move  that  this  be  a  military  fund  ?  Verily,  not  I. 
My  opinion  indeed  is,  that  there  should  be  soldiers  raised,  and  a 
military  fund,  and  one  and  the  same  regulation  for  receiving  and 
performing  what  is  due  ;  only  you  just  without  trouble  take  your 
allowance  for  the  festivals.  It  remains  then,  I  imagine,  that  all  must 
contribute,  if  much  be  wanted,  much,  if  little,  little.  Money  must 
be  had  ;  without  it  nothing  proper  can  be  done.  Other  persons 
propose  other  ways  and  means.  Choose  which  ye  think  expedient ; 
and  put  hands  to  the  work,  while  it  is  yet  time. 

After  Amphipolis  was  taken  by  Philip  in  358  a  decree  was 
passed,  exiling  friends  of  Athens  from  the  city.  There  had  been 
a  pro-Athenian  as  well  as  a  pro-Macedonian  party,  but  henceforth 
Athenian  influence  was  to  be  made  as  slight  as  possible. 

Philon  and  Stratocles  are  the  two  men  from  Amphipolis  to  whom 
Demosthenes  refers. 

Hicks  and  HiH,  125 

Friends  of  Athens  banished  from  Amphipolis,  b.c.  358-357 

Voted  by  the  people  : 

That  Philon  and  Stratocles  and  their  sons  be  exiled  forever  from 
Amphipolis  and  the  land  of  the  Amphipolitans,  and  if  they  are 
captured  anywhere  they  shall  be  treated  as  enemies  and  put  to 
death  without  penalty.  And  their  property  is  to  be  confiscated  by 
the  state  and  one  tenth  to  be  sacred  to  Apollo  and  the  Strymon. 

The  presidents  shall  inscribe  their  names  on  a  stone  stele. 
And  if  anyone  moves  to  reconsider  this  question  or  receives  them 
(i.e.  Philon  and  Stratocles  and  their  sons)  back  again  by  any  craft 
or  scheme  whatsoever,  his  property  is  to  be  confiscated  and  he  too 
is  to  be  exiled  from  Amphipolis  forever. 

In  answer  to  those  who  object  to  war  on  the  grounds  that  Philip 
has  not  been  fighting  against  Athens,  —  that  he  has  only  been  ag- 
gressive toward  the  northern  cities,  —  Demosthenes  gives  a  brilliant 
character  study  of  Philip  and  his  methods. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  587 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Chersonese,  44-51 

None  of  you  surely  is  so  foolish  as  to  suppose  that  Philip  covets 
those  miseries  in  Thrace  (for  what  else  can  one  call  Drongilus,  and 
Cabyle,  and  Mastira,  and  the  places  which  he  is  taking  and  con- 
quering now  ?)  and  to  get  them  endures  toils  and  winters  and  the 
extreme  of  danger,  but  covets  not  the  Athenian  harbours,  and 
docks,  and  galleys,  and  silver-mines,  and  revenues  of  such  value ; 
and  that  he  will  suffer  you  to  keep  them,  while  for  the  sake  of  the 
barley  and  millet  in  Thracian  caverns  he  winters  in  the  midst  of 
horrors.  Impossible.  The  object  of  that  and  every  other  enter- 
prise is  to  become  master  here.  What  then  is  the  duty  of  wise 
men  }  With  these  assurances  and  convictions,  to  lay  aside  an  in- 
dolence which  is  becoming  outrageous  and  incurable,  to  pay  con- 
tributions and  to  call  upon  your  allies,  see  to  and  provide  for  the 
continuance  of  the  present  force,  that,  as  Philip  has  a  power  ready 
to  injure  and  enslave  all  the  Greeks,  so  you  may  have  one  ready 
to  save  and  to  succour  all.  It  is  not  possible  with  hasty  levies  to 
perform  any  effective  service.  You  must  have  an  army  on  foot, 
provide  maintenance  for  it,  and  paymasters  and  commissaries,  so 
ordering  it  that  the  strictest  care  shall  be  taken  of  your  funds,  and 
demand  from  those  officers  an  account  of  the  expenditure,  from 
your  general  an  account  of  the  campaign.  If  ye  so  act  and  so 
resolve  in  earnest,  you  will  compel  Philip  to  observe  a  just  peace 
and  abide  in  his  own  country  (the  greatest  of  all  blessings),  or  you 
will  fight  him  on  equal  terms. 

It  may  be  thought,  and  truly  enough,  that  these  are  affairs  of 
great  expense  and  toil  and  trouble  :  yet  only  consider  what  the  con- 
sequences to  us  must  be,  if  we  decline  these  measures,  and  you 
will  find  it  is  our  interest  to  perform  our  duties  cheerfully.  Suppose 
some  god  would  be  your  surety  —  for  certainly  no  mortal  could 
guarantee  such  an  event  —  that,  notwithstanding  you  kept  quiet 
and  abandoned  everything,  Philip  would  not  attack  you  at  last,  yet, 
by  Zeus  and  all  the  gods,  it  were  disgraceful,  unworthy  of  your- 
selves, of  the  character  of  Athens  and  the  deeds  of  your  ancestors, 
for  the  sake  of  selfish  ease  to  abandon  the  rest  of  Greece  to  servi- 
tude. For  my  own  part,  I  would  rather  die  than  have  given  such 
counsel ;  though,  if  another  man  advises  it,  and  you  are  satisfied, 


588  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

well  and  good  ;  make  no  resistance,  abandon  all.  If,  however,  no 
man  holds  this  opinion,  if,  on  the  contrary,  we  all  foresee,  that 
the  more  we  let  Philip  conquer  the  more  ruthless  and  powerful  an 
enemy  we  shall  find  him,  what  subterfuge  remains  ?  what  excuse  for 
delay  ?  Or  when,  O  Athenians,  shall  we  be  willing  to  perform  our 
duty  ?  Peradventure,  when  there  is  some  necessity.  But  what  may 
be  called  the  necessity  of  freemen  is  not  only  come  but  past  long  ago  ; 
and  surely  you  must  deprecate  that  of  slaves.  What  is  the  difference  ? 
To  a  freeman,  the  greatest  necessity  is  shame  for  his  proceedings  ; 
I  know  not  what  greater  you  can  suggest :  to  a  slave,  stripes  and 
bodily  chastisement ;  abominable  things  !  too  shocking  to  mention  ! 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Chersonese,  61-67 

You  must  therefore  be  convinced  that  this  is  a  struggle  for  ex- 
istence :  these  men  who  have  sold  themselves  to  Philip  you  must 
execrate  and  cudgel  to  death  ;  for  it  is  impossible,  impossible  to 
overcome  your  enemies  abroad,  until  you  have  punished  your  ene- 
mies (his  ministers)  at  home.  They  will  be  the  stumbling-blocks 
that  prevent  your  reaching  the  others.  Why  do  you  suppose  Philip 
now  insults  you  (for  to  this,  in  my  opinion,  his  conduct  amounts), 
and  while  to  other  people,  though  he  deceives  them,  he  at  least 
renders  services,  he  is  already  threatening  you }  For  example,  the 
Thessalians  by  many  benefits  he  seduced  into  their  present  servi- 
tude :  how  he  cheated  the  wretched  Olynthians,  first  giving  them 
Potidasa  and  divers  other  things,  no  man  can  describe  :  now  he  is 
enticing  the  Thebans  by  giving  up  to  them  Boeotia,  and  delivering 
them  from  a  toilsome  and  vexatious  war.  Thus  did  each  of  these 
people  grasp  a  certain  advantage,  but  some  of  them  have  suffered 
what  all  the  world  know,  others  will  suffer  what  may  hereafter 
befall  them.  From  you  —  all  that  has  been  taken  I  recount  not: 
but  in  the  very  making  of  the  peace,  how  have  you  been  abused ! 
how  despoiled  !  Of  Phocis,  Thermopylae,  places  in  Thrace,  Doris- 
cus,  Serrium,  Cersobleptes  himself !  Does  he  not  now  possess  the 
city  of  Cardia  and  avow  it .-'  Wherefore,  I  say,  deals  he  thus  with 
other  people,  and  not  in  the  same  manner  with  you }  Because  yours 
is  the  only  state  in  which  a  privilege  is  allowed  of  speaking  for  the 
enemy,  and  an  individual  taking  a  bribe  may  safely  address  the 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  589 

assembly,  though  you  have  been  robbed  of  your  dominions.  It. was 
not  safe  at  Olynthus  to  be  Phihp's  advocate,  unless  the  Olynthian 
commonly  had  shared  the  advantage  by  possession  of  Potidaea  :  it 
was  not  safe  in  Thessaly  to  be  Philip's  advocate,  unless  the  people 
of  Thessaly  had  shared  the  advantage,  by  Philip's  expelling  their 
tyrants  and  restoring  the  Pylaean  synod  :  it  was  not  safe  in  Thebes, 
until  he  gave  up  Boeotia  to  them  and  destroyed  the  Phocians.  Yet 
at  Athens,  though  Philip  has  deprived  you  of  Amphipolis  and  the 
Cardian  territor)',  nay,  is  even  making  Eubcea  a  fortress  to  curb  us, 
and  advancing  to  attack  Byzantium,  it  is  safe  to  speak  on  Philip's 
behalf.  Therefore  of  these  men,  some,  from  being  poor,  have 
become  rapidly  rich,  from  nameless  and  obscure,  have  become 
honoured  and  distinguished  ;  you  have  done  the  reverse,  fallen 
from  honour  to  obscurity,  from  wealth  to  poverty ;  for  I  deem  the 
riches  of  a  state,  allies,  confidence,  attachment,  of  all  which  you  are 
destitute.  And  from  your  neglecting  these  matters  and  suffering 
them  to  be  lost,  Philip  has  grown  prosperous  and  mighty,  formi- 
dable to  all  the  Greeks  and  barbarians,  whilst  you  are  abject  and 
forlorn,  magnificent  in  the  abundance  of  your  market,  but  in  pro- 
vision for  actual  need  ridiculous.  I  observe,  however,  that  some 
of  our  orators  take  different  thought  for  you  and  for  themselves. 
You,  they  say,  should  be  quiet  even  under  injustice  ;  they  cannot 
live  in  quiet  among  you  themselves,  though  no  man  injures  them. 

Demosthenes,  Third  Philippic,  6-14 

If  now  we  were  all  agreed  that  Philip  is  at  war  with  Athens  and 
infringing  the  peace,  nothing  would  a  speaker  need  to  urge  or  ad- 
vise but  the  safest  and  easiest  way  of  resisting  him.  But  since,  at 
the  very  time  when  Philip  is  capturing  cities  and  retaining  divers 
of  our  dominions  and  assailing  all  people,  there  are  men  so  un- 
reasonable as  to  listen  to  repeated  declarations  in  the  assembly,  that 
some  of  us  are  kindling  war,  one  must  be  cautious  and  set  this 
matter  right :  for  whoever  moves  or  advises  a  measure  of  defence 
is  in  danger  of  being  accused  afterwards  as  author  of  the  war. 

I  will  first  then  examine  and  determine  this  point,  whether  it 
be  in  our  power  to  deliberate  on  peace  or  war.  If  the  country  may 
be  at  peace,  if  it  depends  on  us  (to  begin  with  this),  I  say  we  ought 


590  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

to  maintain  peace,  and  I  call  upon  the  affirmant  to  move  a  resolu- 
tion, to  take  some  measure,  and  not  to  palter  with  us.  But  if  an- 
other, having  arms  in  his  hand  and  a  large  force  around  him, 
amuses  you  with  the  name  of  peace,  while  he  carries  on  the  opera- 
tions of  war,  what  is  left  but  to  defend  yourselves  ?  You  may  pro- 
fess to  be  at  peace,  if  you  like,  as  he  does ;  I  quarrel  not  with  that. 
But  if  any  man  supposes  this  to  be  a  peace,  which  will  enable 
Philip  to  master  all  else  and  attack  you  last',  he  is  a  madman,  or 
he  talks  of  a  peace  observed  towards  him  by  you,  not  towards  you 
by  him.  This  it  is  that  Philip  purchases  by  all  his  expenditure, 
the  privilege  of  assailing  you  without  being  assailed  in  turn. 

If  we  really  wait  until  he  avows  that  he  is  at  war  with  us,  we 
are  the  simplest  of  mortals  :  for  he  would  not  declare  that,  though 
he  marched  even  against  Attica  and  Pir^us,  at  least  if  we  may 
judge  from  his  conduct  to  others.  P^or  example,  to  the  Olynthians 
he  declared,  when  he  was  forty  furlongs  from  their  city,  that  there 
was  no  alternative,  but  either  they  must  quit  Olynthus  or  he  Mace- 
donia ;  though  before  that  time,  whenever  he  was  accused  of  such  an 
intent,  he  took  it  ill  and  sent  ambassadors  to  justify  himself.  Again, 
he  marched  towards  the  Phocians  as  if  they  were  allies,  and  there 
were  Phocian  envoys  who  accompanied  his  march,  and  many  among 
you  contended  that  his  advance  would  not  benefit  the  Thebans. 
And  he  came  into  Thessaly  of  late  as  a  friend  and  ally,  yet  he  has 
taken  possession  of  Pherae  :  and  lastly  he  told  these  wretched  peo- 
ple of  Oreus,  that  he  had  sent  his  soldiers  out  of  good-will  to  visit 
them,  as  he  heard  they  were  in  trouble  and  dissension,  and  it  was 
the  part  of  allies  and  true  friends  to  lend  assistance  on  such  occa- 
sions. People  who  would  never  have  harmed  him,  though  they 
might  have  adopted  measures  of  defence,  he  chose  to  deceive  rather 
than  warn  them  of  his  attack  ;  and  think  ye  he  would  declare  war 
against  you  before  he  began  it,  and  that  while  you  are  willing  to 
be  deceived  ?  Impossible.  He  would  be  the  silliest  of  mankind, 
if,  whilst  you  the  injured  parties  make  no  complaint  against  him, 
but  are  accusing  your  own  countrymen,  he  should  terminate  your 
intestine  strife  and  jealousies,  warn  you  to  turn  against  him,  and 
remove  the  pretexts  of  his  hirelings  for  asserting,  to  amuse  you, 
that  he  makes  no  war  upon  Athens. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  591 

Demosthenes,  Third  rhilippic,  19-28 

From  the  day  that  he  destroyed  the  Phocians  I  date  his  com- 
mencement of  hostilities.  Defend  yourselves  instantly,  and  I  say 
you  will  be  wise  :  delay  it,  and  you  may  wish  in  vain  to  do  so  here- 
after. So  much  do  I  dissent  from  your  other  counsellors,  men  of 
Athens,  that  I  deem  any  discussion  about  Chersonesus  or  Byzan- 
tium out  of  place.  Succour  them  —  I  advise  that  —  watch  that  no 
harm  befalls  them,  send  all  necessary  supplies  to  your  troops  in 
that  quarter ;  but  let  your  deliberations  be  for  the  safety  of  all 
Greece,  as  being  in  the  utmost  peril.  I  must  tell  you  why  I  am 
so  alarmed  at  the  state  of  our  affairs  :  that,  if  my  reasonings  are 
correct,  you  may  share  them,  and  make  some  provision  at  least  for 
yourselves,  however  disinclined  to  do  so  for  others :  but  if,  in  your 
judgment,  I  talk  nonsense  and  absurdity,  you  may  treat  me  as 
crazed,  and  not  listen  to  me,  either  now  or  in  future. 

That  Philip  from  a  mean  and  humble  origin  has  grown  mighty, 
that  the  Greeks  are  jealous  and  quarrelling  among  themselves,  that 
it  was  far  more  wonderful  for  him  to  rise  from  that  insignificance 
than  it  would  now  be,  after  so  many  acquisitions,  to  conquer  what 
is  left ;  these  and  similar  matters,  which  I  might  dwell  upon,  I 
pass  over.  But  I  observe  that  all  people,  beginning  with  you,  have 
conceded  to  him  a  right,  which  in  former  times  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  contest  in  every  Grecian  war.  And  what  is  this  }  The  right 
of  doing  what  he  pleases,  openly  fleecing  and  pillaging  the  Greeks, 
one  after  another,  attacking  and  enslaving  their  cities.  You  were 
at  the  head  of  the  Greeks  for  seventy-three  years,  the  Lacedasmo- 
nians  for  twenty-nine  ;  and  the  Thebans  had  some  power  in  these 
latter  times  after  the  battle  of  Leuctra.  Yet  neither  you,  my  coun- 
trymen, nor  Thebans,  nor  Lacedaemonians,  were  ever  licensed  by 
the  Greeks  to  act  as  you  pleased  ;  far  otherwise.  When  you,  or 
rather  the  Athenians  of  that  time,  appeared  to  be  dealing  harshly 
with  certain  people,  all  the  rest,  even  such  as  had  no  complaint 
against  Athens,  thought  proper  to  side  with  the  injured  parties  in 
a  war  against  her.  So,  when  the  Lacedaemonians  became  masters 
and  succeeded  to  your  empire,  on  their  attempting  to  encroach  and 
make  oppressive  innovations,  a  general  war  was  declared  against 
them,  even  by  such  as  had  no  cause  of  complaint.    But  wherefore 


592  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

mention  other  people  ?  We  ourselves  and  the  Lacedaemonians, 
although  at  the  outset  we  could  not  allege  any  mutual  injuries, 
thought  proper  to  make  war  for  the  injustice  that  we  saw  done  to 
our  neighbours.  Yet  all  the  faults  committed  by  the  Spartans  in 
those  thirty  years,  and  by  our  ancestors  in  the  seventy,  are  less, 
men  of  Athens,  than  the  wrongs  which,  in  thirteen  incomplete  years 
that  Philip  has  been  uppermost,  he  has  inflicted  on  the  Greeks  : 
nay  they  are  scarcely  a  fraction  of  these,  as  may  easily  be  shown 
in  a  few  words.  Olynthus  and  Methone  and  Apollonia,  and  thirty- 
two  cities  on  the  borders  of  Thrace,  I  pass  over ;  all  which  he  has 
so  cruelly  destroyed  that  a  visitor  could  hardly  tell  if  they  were  ever 
inhabited  :  and  of  the  Phocians,  so  considerable  a  people  exter- 
minated, I  say  nothing.  But  what  is  the  condition  of  Thessaly .? 
Has  he  not  taken  away  her  constitutions  and  her  cities,  and  estab- 
lished tetrarchies,  to  parcel  her  out,  not  only  by  cities,  but  also  by 
provinces,  for  subjection  ?  Are  not  the  Euboean  states  governed 
now  by  despots,  and  that  in  an  island  near  to  Thebes  and  Athens  .-* 
Does  he  not  expressly  write  in  his  epistles,  "  I  am  at  peace  with 
those  who  are  willing  to  obey  me.?"  Nor  does  he  write  so  and 
not  act  accordingly.  He  is  gone  to  the  Hellespont ;  he  marched 
formerly  against  Ambracia ;  Elis,  such  an  important  city  in  Pelo- 
ponnesus, he  possesses  ;  he  plotted  lately  to  get  Megara :  neither 
Hellenic  nor  Barbaric  land  contains  the  man's  ambition.  And  we, 
the  Greek  community,  seeing  and  hearing  this,  instead  of  sending 
embassies  to  one  another  about  it,  and  expressing  indignation,  are 
in  such  a  miserable  state,  so  intrenched  in  our  separate  towns,  that 
to  this  day  we  can  attempt  nothing  that  interest  or  necessity  re- 
quires ;  we  cannot  combine,  or  form  any  association  for  succour  and 
alliance ;  we  look  unconcernedly  on  the  man's  growing  power,  each 
resolving  (methinks)  to  enjoy  the  interval  that  another  is  destroyed 
in,  not  caring  or  striving  for  the  salvation  of  Greece  :  for  none  can 
be  ignorant  that  Philip,  like  some  course  or  attack  of  fever  or  other 
disease,  is  coming  even  on  those  that  yet  seem  very  far  removed. 

Demosthenes,  Third  Philippic,  32-35 

What  is  wanting  to  make  his  insolence  complete }    Besides  his 
destruction  of  Grecian  cities,  does  he  not  hold  the  Pythian  games, 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  593 

the  common  festival  of  Greece,  and,  if  he  comes  not  himself,  send 
his  vassals  to  preside  ?  Is  he  not  master  of  Thermopylae  and  the 
passes  into  Greece,  and  holds  he  not  those  places  by  garrisons 
and  mercenaries  ?  Has  he  not  thrust  aside  Thessalians,  ourselves, 
Dorians,  the  whole  Amphictyonic  body,  and  got  preaudience  of  the 
oracle,  to  which  even  the  Greeks  do  not  all  pretend  ?  Does  he  not 
write  to  the  Thessalians  what  form  of  government  to  adopt  ?  send 
mercenaries  to  Porthmus,  to  expel  the  Eretrian  commonalty ;  others 
to  Oreus,  to  set  up  Philistides  as  ruler  ?  Yet  the  Greeks  endure  to 
see  all  this  ;  methinks  they  view  it  as  they  would  a  hailstorm,  each 
praying  that  it  may  not  fall  on  himself,  none  trying  to  prevent  it. 
And  not  only  are  the  outrages  which  he  does  to  Greece  submitted 
to,  but  even  the  private  wrongs  of  every  people  :  nothing  can  go 
beyond  this  !  Has  he  not  wronged  the  Corinthians  by  attacking 
Ambracia  and  Leucas  ?  the  Achaians,  by  swearing  to  give  Nau- 
pactus  to  the  /Etolians  ?  from  the  Thebans  taken  Echinus  ?  Is  he 
not  marching  against  the  Byzantines  his  allies  ?  From  us  —  I  omit 
the  rest  —  but  keeps  he  not  Cardia,  the  greatest  city  of  the  Cher- 
sonese ?  Still  under  these  indignities  we  are  all  slack  and  disheart- 
ened, and  look  towards  our  neighbours,  distrusting  one  another, 
instead-  of  the  common  enemy.  And  how  think  ye  a  man,  who 
behaves  so  insolently  to  all,  how  will  he  act  when  he  gets  each 
separately  under  his  control  .-* 

Demosthenes,  Third  Philippic,  36-44 

But  what  has  caused  the  mischief  t  There  must  be  some  cause, 
some  good  reason,  why  the  Greeks  were  so  eager  for  liberty  then, 
and  now  are  eager  for  servitude.  There  was  something,  men  of 
Athens,  something  in  the  hearts  of  the  multitude  then,  which  there 
is  not  now,  which  overcame  the  wealth  of  Persia  and  maintained 
the  freedom  of  Greece,  and  quailed  not  under  any  battle  by  land 
or  sea ;  the  loss  whereof  has  ruined  all,  and  thrown  the  affairs  of 
Greece  into  confusion.  What  was  this?  Nothing  subtle  or  clever : 
simply  that  whoever  took  money  from  the  aspirants  for  power  or 
the  corruptors  of  Greece  were  universally  detested  :  it  was  dreadful 
to  be  convicted  of  bribery  ;  the  severest  punishment  was  inflicted  on 
the  guilty,  and  there  was  no  intercession  or  pardon.   The  favourable 


594  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

moments  for  enterprise,  which  fortune  frequently  offers  to  the 
careless  against  the  vigilant,  to  them  that  will  do  nothing  against 
those  that  discharge  all  their  duty,  could  not  be  bought  from  ora- 
tors or  generals ;  no  more  could  mutual  concord,  nor  distrust  of 
tyrants  and  barbarians,  nor  anything  of  the  kind.  But  now  all  such 
principles  have  been  sold  as  in  open  market,  and  those  imported 
in  exchange,  by  which  Greece  is  ruined  and  diseased.  What  are 
they  ?  Envy  where  a  man  gets  a  bribe  ;  laughter  if  he  confesses 
it ;  mercy  to  the  convicted  ;  hatred  of  those  that  denounce  the 
crime  :  all  the  usual  attendants  upon  corruption.  For  as  to  ships 
and  men  and  revenues  and  abundance  of  other  materials,  all  that 
may  be  reckoned  as  constituting  national  strength  —  assuredly  the 
Greeks  of  our  day  are  more  fully  and  perfectly  supplied  with  such 
advantages  than  Greeks  of  the  olden  time.  But  they  are*  all  ren- 
dered useless,  unavailable,  unprofitable,  by  the  agency  of  these 
traffickers. 

For  meeting  some  of  the  expenses  of  the  war  Demosthenes  had 
proposed  the  use  of  the  theoric  fund,  or  money  given  the  citizens 
for  theater  tickets.  This  caused  a  great  hue  and  cry,  but  Demos- 
thenes defended  the  suggestion  on  the  ground  that  it  was  better 
to  give  up  amusements  than  to  levy  extra  taxes. 

Demosthenes,  Third  Olynthiac,  19-32 

But  if  anyone  can  let  alone  our  theatrical  fund,  and  suggest 
other  supplies  for  the  military,  is  he  not  cleverer }  it  may  be  asked, 
I  grant  it,  if  this  were  possible  :  but  I  wonder  if  any  man  ever  was 
or  will  be  able,  after  wasting  his  means  in  useless  expenses,  to  find 
means  for  useful.  The  wishes  of  men  are  indeed  a  great  help  to 
such  arguments,  and  therefore  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  is  self- 
deceit,  for  eveiy  man  believes  what  he  wishes,  though  the  reality  is 
often  different.  See  then,  Athenians,  what  the  realities  allow,  and 
you  will  be  able  to  serve  and  have  pay.  It  becomes  not  a  wise  or  mag- 
nanimous people  to  neglect  military  operations  for  want  of  money, 
and  bear  disgraces  like  these  ;  or,  while  you  snatch  up  arms  to 
march  against  Corinthians  and  Megarians,  to  let  Philip  enslave 
Greek  cities  for  lack  of  provisions  for  your  troops. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  595 

I  have  not  spoken  for  the  idle  purpose  of  giving  offence  :  I  am 
not  so  fooHsh  or  perverse  as  to  provoke  your  displeasure  without 
intending  your  good  :  but  I  think  an  upright  citizen  should  prefer 
the  advancement  of  the  commonwealth  to  the  gratification  of  his 
audience.  And  I  hear,  as  perhaps  you  do,  that  the  speakers  in  our 
ancestors'"  time,  whom  all  that  address  you  praise,  but  not  exactly 
imitate,  were  politicians  after  this  form  and  fashion  ;  —  Aristides, 
Nicias,  my  namesake,  Pericles.  But  since  these  orators  have  ap- 
peared who  ask,  What  is  your  pleasure  .''  what  shall  I  move  ?  how 
can  I  oblige  you  .''  the  public  welfare  is  complimented  away  for  a 
moment's  popularity,  and  these  are  the  results  ;  the  orators  thrive, 
you  are  disgraced.  Mark,  O  Athenians,  what  a  summary  contrast 
may  be  drawn  between  the  doings  in  our  olden  time  and  in  yours. 
It  is  a  tale  brief  and  familiar  to  all ;  for  the  examples  by  which 
you  may  still  be  happy  are  found  not  abroad,  men  of  Athens,  but 
at  home.  Our  forefathers,  whom  the  speakers  humoured  not  nor 
caressed,  as  these  men  caress  you,  for  five-and-forty  years  took  the 
leadership  of  the  Greeks  by  general  consent,  and  brought  above 
ten  thousand  talents  into  the  citadel ;  and  the  king  of  this  country 
was  submissive  to  them,  as  a  barbarian  should  be  to  Greeks  ;  and 
many  glorious  trophies  they  erected  for  victories  won  by  their  own 
fighting  on  land  and  sea,  and  they  are  the  sole  people  in  the  world 
who  have  bequeathed  a  renown  superior  to  en\y.  Such  were  their 
merits  in  the  affairs  of  Greece  :  see  what  they  were  at  home,  both 
as  citizens  and  as  men.  Their  public  works  are  edifices  and  orna- 
ments of  such  beauty  and  grandeur  in  temples  and  consecrated 
furniture,  that  posterity  have  no  power  to  surpass  them.  In  private 
they  were  so  modest  and  attached  to  the  principle  of  our  consti- 
tution, that  whoever  knows  the  style  of  house  which  Aristides  had, 
or  Miltiades,  and  the  illustrious  of  that  day,  perceives  it  to  be  no 
grander  than  those  of  the  neighbours.  Their  politics  were  not 
for  money-making ;  each  felt  it  his  duty  to  exalt  the  common- 
wealth. By  a  conduct  honourable  towards  the  Greeks,  pious  to 
the  gods,  brotherlike  among  themselves  they  justly  attained  a 
high  prosperity. 

So  fared  matters  with  them  under  the  statesmen  I  have  men- 
tioned.   How  fare  they  with  you  under  the  worthies  of  our  time  ? 


596  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Is  there  any  likeness  or  resemblance  ?  I  pass  over  other  topics 
on  which  I  could  expatiate ;  but  observe  :  in  this  utter  absence  of 
competitors  (Lacedaemonians  depressed,  Thebans  employed,  none 
of  the  rest  capable  of  disputing  the  supremacy  with  us)  when  we 
might  hold  our  own  securely  and  arbitrate  the  claims  of  others,  we 
have  been  deprived  of  our  rightful  territory,  and  spent  above  fif- 
teen hundred  talents  to  no  purpose ;  the  allies,  whom  we  gained 
in  war,  these  persons  have  lost  in  peace,  and  we  have  trained  up 
against  ourselves  an  enemy  thus  formidable.  Or  let  any  one  come 
forward  and  tell  me,  by  whose  contrivance  but  ours  Philip  has 
grown .  strong.  Well,  sir,  this  looks  bad,  but  things  at  home  are 
better.  What  proof  can  be  adduced  ?  The  parapets  that  are  white- 
washed ?  The  roads  that  are  repaired  ?  fountains,  and  fooleries  ? 
Look  at  the  men  of  whose  statesmanship  these  are  the  fruits. 
They  have  risen  from  beggary  to  opulence,  or  from  obscurity  to 
honour ;  some  have  made  their  private  houses  more  splendid  than 
the  public  buildings  ;  and  in  proportion  as  the  state  has  declined, 
their  fortunes  have  been  exalted. 

What  has  produced  these  results  ?  How  is  it  that  all  went  pros- 
perously then,  and  now  goes  wrong  ?  Because  anciently  the  people, 
having  the  courage  to  be  soldiers,  controlled  the  statesmen,  and 
disposed  of  all  emoluments ;  any  of  the  rest  was  happy  to  receive 
from  the  people  his  share  of  honour,  office,  or  advantage.  Now, 
contrariwise,  the  statesmen  dispose  of  emoluments  ;  through  them 
everything  is  done ;  you  the  people,  enervated,  stripped  of  treasure 
and  allies,  are  become  as  underlings  and  hangers-on,  happy  if  these 
persons  dole  you  out  show-money  or  send  you  paltry  beeves  ;  and, 
the  unmanliest  part  of  all,  you  are  grateful  for  receiving  your  own. 
They,  cooping  you  in  the  city,  lead  you  to  your  pleasures,  and  make 
you  tame  and  submissive  to  their  hands.  It  is  impossible,  I  say,  to 
have  a  high  and  noble  spirit,  while  you  are  engaged  in  petty  and 
mean  employments  :  whatever  be  the  pursuits  of  men,  their  char- 
acters must  be  similar.  By  Demeter,  I  should  not  wonder,  if  I,  for 
mentioning  these  things,  suffered  more  from  your  resentment 
than  the  men  who  have  brought  them  to  pass.  For  even  liberty 
of  speech  you  allow  not  on  all  subjects  ;  I  marvel  indeed  you  have 
allowed  it  here. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  597 

3.    FAILURE  OF  THE  EMBASSY 

While  the  question  of  war  was  still  an  open  one,  an  embassy 
of  which  Demosthenes  and  ^schines  were  members  was  sent  to 
Philip  to  see  if  any  arrangement  acceptable  to  the  Athenians  could 
be  made.  This  embassy  proved  a  signal  failure  and  could  only  get 
terms  of  a  most  unfortunate  peace.  Demosthenes  laid  the  blame 
on  ^schines,  whom  he  accused  of  taking  a  bribe  from  Philip,  who 
was  always  glad  to  buy  favors. 

This  speech,  "  On  the  Embassy,"  and  the  answer  of  ^schines 
are  instances  of  the  kind  of  abuse  that  was  permitted  in  the 
Athenian  courts. 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Embassy,  9-16 

Many  grievous  things  can  I  lay  to  his  charge  besides  those  which 
I  have  mentioned,  O  Athenians  —  enough  to  make  every  one  de- 
test him  —  but  before  I  enter  upon  other  topics,  I  will  remind  you 
(though  nearly  all  indeed  must  remember)  what  character  /Eschines 
first  assumed  in  politics,  and  what  language  he  thought  proper  to 
address  to  the  people  against  Philip,  that  you  may  see,  his  own 
early  acts  and  speeches  will  most  surely  convict  him  of  taking  bribes. 

He  is  the  first  Athenian  (as  he  declared  in  his  speech)  who  dis- 
covered that  Philip  was  plotting  against  the  Greeks,  and  corrupting 
certain  of  the  leading  men  in  Arcadia.  He  it  is  who,  having  Is- 
chander,  son  of  Neoptolemus,  to  play  second  part  to  him,  applied 
to  the  council  on  this  matter,  and  also  to  the  people,  and  persuaded 
you  to  send  ambassadors  everywhere  to  assemble  a  congress  at 
Athens  for  consulting  about  war  with  Philip ;  who  afterwards,  on 
his  return  from  Arcadia,  reported  those  fine  long  speeches,  which 
he  said  he  had  delivered  on  your  behalf  before  the  ten  thousand 
at  Megalopolis,  in  answer  to  Philip's  advocate  Hieronymus,  and 
dwelt  on  the  enormous  injury  done,  not  only  to  their  own  countries, 
but  to  the  whole  of  Greece,  by  the  men  who  took  presents  and 
money  from  Philip.  Such  being  his  politics  then,  such  the  speci- 
men which  he  had  given  of  himself,  when  Aristodemus,  Neoptole- 
mus, Ctesiphon,  and  the  rest,  who  brought  reports  from  Macedonia 


598  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

without  a  word  of  truth,  prevailed  on  you  to  send  ambassadors  to 
Phihp  for  peace,  this  man  is  put  into  the  embassy,  not  as  one  of 
a  party  who  would  sell  your  interests,  not  as  one  of  those  who 
trusted  Philip,  but  as  one  who  would  help  to  watch  the  others ;  for, 
on  account  of  his  former  speeches  and  hostility  to  Philip,  you  all 
naturally  held  that  opinion  of  him.  He  came  then  to  me,  and  ar- 
ranged that  we  should  act  in  the  embassy  together ;  and  strongly 
urged,  that  we  should  both  watch  that  impudent  profligate  Philoc- 
rates.  And  until  his  return  home  from  the  first  embassy,  men  of 
Athens,  I  certainly  never  discovered  that  he  was  corrupted  and  had 
sold  himself  ;  for,  besides  the  speeches  which,  as  I  said,  he  had 
made  before,  he  rose  in  the  first  of  the  assemblies  in  which  you 
debated  on  the  peace,  and  began  ■ —  I  think  I  can  repeat  his  open- 
ing to  you  in  the  very  same  words  which  he  used  —  "  Had  Philoc- 
rates  been  meditating  ever  so  long,  men  of  Athens,  upon  the  best 
means  of  opposing  the  peace,  he  could  not,  methinks,  have  found 
a  better  way  than  a  motion  like  the  present.  Never  will  I,  while 
a  single  Athenian  is  left,  advise  the  commonwealth  to  make  a  peace 
like  this  :  peace,  however,  I  do  advise  "  —  and  to  such  purport 
briefly  and  fairly  he  expressed  himself.  Yet  the  same  man  who 
had  thus  spoken  on  the  first  day  in  the  hearing  of  you  all,  on  the 
next,  when  the  peace  was  to  be  ratified,  when  I  supported  the 
resolution  of  our  allies,  and  exerted  myself  to  make  the  peace  equi- 
table and  just,  and  you  were  of  my  opinion,  and  would  not  even 
hear  the  voice  of  the  despicable  Philocrates,  —  he  then  got  up  and 
addressed  the  people  in  support  of  Philocrates,  and  said  what 
(O  heavens  !)  deserved  a  thousand  deaths  —  that  you  ought  not  to 
remember  your  ancestors,  nor  put  up  with  persons  that  talked 
about  trophies  and  sea-fights,  and  that  he  would  propose  and  pass  a 
law  to  prevent  your  succouring  any  Greeks  who  had  not  previously 
succoured  you.  All  which  this  impudent  wretch  dared  to  utter  in 
the  presence  and  hearing  of  the  ambassadors,  whom  you  sent  for 
out  of  Greece  at  his  persuasion  before  he  had  sold  himself. 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Embassy,  142-146 

Such  advantages  have  the  Thebans  gained  by  the  peace :  greater 
they  could  not  wish  for,  I  imagine :  but  what  have  the  Theban 
ambassadors  gained  }    The  advantage  of  having  done  so  much 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  599 

for  their  country'  —  that  is  all ;  but  that  is  honourable  and  glorious, 
O  Athenians,  in  regard  to  praise  and  renown,  which  these  men 
bartered  away  for  gold. 

Now  let  me  contrast  what  the  Athenian  commonwealth  has 
gained  by  the  peace,  and  what  the  Athenian  ambassadors ;  and  see 
if  the  commonwealth  and  these  men  themselves  have  fared  alike. 
To  the  commonwealth  the  result  has  been,  that  she  has  relin- 
quished all  her  possessions  and  all  her  allies,  and  has  sworn  to 
Philip,  that,  should  any  one  else  interfere  ever  to  preserve  them, 
you  will  prevent  it,  and  will  regard  the  person  who  wishes  to  re- 
store them  to  you  as  an  adversary  and  a  foe,  the  person  who  has 
deprived  you  of  them  as  an  ally  and  a  friend.  These  are  the  terms 
which  yEschines  the  defendant  supported,  and  his  coadjutor  Phi- 
locrates  proposed  ;  and  when  I  prevailed  on  the  first  day  and  had 
persuaded  you  to  confirm  the  resolution  of  your  allies,  and  to  sum- 
mon Philip's  ambassadors,  the  defendant  drove  it  off  to  the  follow- 
ing day,  and  persuaded  you  to  adopt  the  decree  of  Philocrates,  in 
which  these  clauses,  and  many  others  yet  more  shameful,  are  con- 
tained. To  the  state  then  such  consequences  have  resulted  from 
the  peace  :  —  consequences  more  disgraceful  could  not  easily  be 
found  :  but  what  to  the  ambassadors  who  caused  them  ?  I  pass  by 
all  the  other  matters  which  you  have  seen  —  houses  —  timber  — 
grain  ;  but  in  the  territory  of  our  ruined  allies  they  have  estates 
and  farms  of  large  extent,  bringing  in  to  Philocrates  an  income  of 
a  talent,  to  ^schines  here  thirty  minas.  Is  it  not  shocking  and 
dreadful,  O  Athenians,  that  the  misfortunes  of  your  allies  have 
become  a  source  of  revenue  to  your  ambassadors  ;  that  the  same 
peace  has  to  the  country  which  sent  them  proved  to  be  destruction 
of  allies,  cession  of  dominions,  disgrace  instead  of  honour,  while 
to  the  ambassadors,  who  wrought  these  mischiefs  to  the  country, 
it  has  produced  revenues,  resources,  estates,  riches,  in  exchange 
for  extreme  indigence  ?  To  prove  the  truth  of  my  statements,  call 
me  the  Olynthian  witnesses. 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Embassy,  298-310 

You  hear,  O  Athenians,  what  the  gods  admonish  you.  If  now 
they  have  given  you  this  response  during  a  time  of  war,  they  mean 
that  you  should  beware  of  your  generals  ;    for  the  generals  are 


6oo  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

conductors  of  war  :  but  if  after  the  conclusion  of  peace,  they  mean 
your  chief  statesmen  ;  for  they  have  the  lead,  their  counsels  you 
follow,  by  them  are  you  in  danger  of  being  deceived. 

And  you  are  told  by  the  oracle  to  hold  the  commonwealth  to- 
gether, so  that  all  may  have  one  mind,  and  not  cause  gratification 
to  the  enemy.  Think  ye  now,  O  Athenians,  that  the  preserving, 
or  the  punishing,  of  a  man  who  has  done  all  this  mischief  would 
cause  gratification  to  Philip  ?  I  think  the  preserving.  The  oracle 
however  says,  you  should  do  your  best  to  prevent  the  enemy  rejoic- 
ing. So  it  exhorts  all  with  one  mind  to  punish  those  who  have  in 
any  way  been  subservient  to  the  enemy  :  Zeus,  Dione,  all  the 
gods.  They  that  intend  you  evil  are  outside,  their  supporters  are 
inside ;  the  business  of  the  former  is  to  give  bribes,  of  the  latter 
to  receive,  and  get  off  those  who  have  received  them. 

Besides,  even  by  human  reasoning  one  may  see,  that  the  most 
mischievous  and  dangerous  of  all  things  is,  to  suffer  a  leading 
statesman  to  become  attached  to  those  who  have  not  the  same 
objects  with  the  people.  Consider  by  what  means  Philip  has  be- 
come master  of  everything,  and  by  what  means  he  has  achieved 
the  greatest  of  his  works.  By  purchasing  success  from  those  who 
would  sell  it ;  by  corrupting  and  exciting  the  ambition  of  leading 
statesmen :  by  such  means.  Both  these  however  it  is  in  your  power, 
if  you  please,  to  render  ineffective  to-day  :  if  to  one  class  of  men 
you  will  not  listen,  when  they  plead  for  people  of  this  kind,  but 
show  that  they  have  no  authority  with  you,  (for  now  they  say  they 
have  authority  :)  and  if  you  will  punish  him  that  has  sold  himself, 
and  this  shall  be  seen  by  all. 

With  any  man  you  might  well  be  wroth,  O  Athenians,  who  had 
done  such  deeds,  and  sacrificed  allies  and  friends  and  opportuni- 
ties, which  make  or  mar  the  fortunes  of  every  people,  but  with 
none  more  strongly  or  more  justly  than  the  defendant.  A  man 
who  took  his  place  with  the  mistrusters  of  Philip  —  who  first  and 
singly  discovered  him  to  be  the  common  enemy  of  all  the  Greeks, 
and  then  deserted  and  turned  traitor,  and  has  suddenly  become  a 
supporter  of  Philip  —  can  it  be  doubted  that  such  a  man  deserves 
a  thousand  deaths  ?  The  truth  of  these  statements  he  himself  will 
not  be  able  to  gainsay.    Who  is  it  that  brought  Ischander  to  you 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEUON  60 1 

in  the  beginning,  whom  he  represented  to  have  come  here  from 
the  country's  friends  in  Arcadia  ?  Who  cried  out,  that  Phihp  was 
packing  Greece  and  Peloponnesus,  whilst  you  were  sleeping?  Who 
was  it  that  made  those  fine  long  orations  before  the  assembly,  and 
read  the  decree  of  Miltiades  and  Themistocles,  and  the  young 
men's  oath  in  the  temple  of  Aglauros  ?  Was  it  not  this  man  ?  Who 
persuaded  you  to  send  embassies  almost  to  the  Red  Sea,  urging 
that  Greece  was  plotted  against  by  Philip,  and  that  it  became  you 
to  foresee  it  and  not  abandon  the  interests  of  the  Greeks  ?  Was  not 
the  mover  of  the  decree  Eubulus,  and  the  envoy  to  Peloponnesus 
the  defendant  /Eschines  ?  What  he  may  have  talked  and  harangued 
about  when  he  got  there,  is  best  known  to  himself ;  but  what  he 
reported  to  you  I  am  sure  you  all  remember.  Several  times  in  his 
speech  he  called  Philip  a  barbarian  and  a  pest,  and  told  you  the 
Arcadians  were  delighted  that  the  Athenian  commonwealth  was 
now  attending  to  her  affairs  and  rousing  herself.  But  what  most 
of  all  had  made  him  indignant,  he  said,  —  coming  home  he  met 
Atrestidas  on  his  way  from  Philip's  court,  and  there  were  about 
thirty  women  and  children  walking  with  him  ;  and  he  was  aston- 
ished, and  asked  one  of  the  travellers  who  the  man  was,  and  who 
the  crowd  that  followed  him  ;  but  when  he  heard  that  these  were 
Olynthian  captives,  whom  Atrestidas  was  bringing  away  as  a  present 
from  Philip,  he  thought  it  shocking,  and  wept,  and  bewailed  the 
miserable  condition  of  Greece,  that  she  should  regard  such-  calami- 
tous events  with  indifference.  And  he  advised  you  to  send  persons 
to  Arcadia  to  denounce  the  agents  of  Philip ;  for  he  heard,  he  said, 
from  his  friends,  that  if  the  commonwealth  would  turn  their  atten- 
tion to  it  and  send  an  embassy,  they  would  be  punished.  Such 
was  then  his  language,  honourable  indeed,  O  Athenians,  and  worthy 
of  the  state.  But  after  he  had  gone  to  Macedonia,  and  beheld  this 
Philip,  the  enemy  of  himself  and  the  Greeks,  was  it  like  or  similar? 
Very  far  from  it.  He  said  you  were  not  to  remember  your  ances- 
tors, not  to  talk  of  trophies  or  succour  any  one  ;  and  he  was  sur- 
prised at  the  men  who  advised  you  to  consult  with  the  Greeks  about 
peace  with  Philip,  as  if  any  one  else  had  to  be  persuaded  on  a 
question  that  concerned  you  alone  ;  and  that  Philip  himself  was 
(O  Hercules !)  a  thorough  Greek,  an  eloquent  speaker,  a  warm 


6o2  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

friend  of  Athens,  and  that  there  were  some  men  in  the  city  so  un- 
reasonable and  perverse,  as  not  to  be  ashamed  of  abusing  him  and 
calHng  him  a  barbarian. 

Is  it  possible  that  the  same  man,  after  having  made  the  former 
speeches,  could  have  ventured  to  make  these,  without  having  been 
corrupted  ?  But  further ;  is  there  a  man  who,  after  having  then 
execrated  Atrestidas  on  account  of  the  women  and  children  of  the 
Olynthians,  could  have  endured  now  to  co-operate  with  Philocrates, 
who  brought  free-born  Olynthian  women  hither  for  dishonour,  and 
is  so  notorious  for  his  abominable  life,  that  I  have  no  need  to  say 
anything  scandalous  or  offensive  about  him,  but  let  me  only  say 
that  Philocrates  brought  women,  you  and  the  bystanders  know  all 
the  rest,  and  feel  pity,  I  am  sure,  for  those  poor  unhappy  creatures, 
whom  /Eschines  pitied  not,  nor  wept  for  Greece  on  their  account, 
that  among  an  allied  people  they  should  be  outraged  by  the 
ambassadors. 

4.  ALLIANCE  WITH   THEBES 

Philip  was  now  advancing  southward  into  Greece,  and  the  cap- 
ture of  Elatea  inflamed  the  other  cities  and  made  them  fear  for 
their  own  safety.  An  alliance  was  hastily  formed  between  Thebes 
and  Athens,  due  largely  to  the  influence  of  Demosthenes,  who 
moved  the  decree  in  the  assembly. 

Later,  after  the  defeat  at  Chaeronea,  Demosthenes  was  severely 
blamed  for  the  alliance,  but  he  defended  his  action,  saying  that  it 
was  the  only  thing  to  be  done  in  such  a  crisis. 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Crown,  168-187 

Philip  having  thus  disposed  the  states  towards  each  other  by  his 
contrivances,  and  being  elated  by  these  decrees  and  answers,  came 
with  his  army  and  seized  Elatea,  confident  that,  happen  what  might, 
you  and  the  Thebans  could  never  again  unite.  What  commotion 
there  was  in  the  city  you  all  know  ;  but  let  me  just  mention  the 
most  striking  circumstances. 

It  was  evening.  A  person  came  with  a  message  to  the  presi- 
dents that  Elatea  was  taken.    They  rose  from  supper  immediately, 


THE   RISE  OF  MACEDON  603 

drove  off  the  people  from  their  market-stalls,  and  set  fire  to  the 
wicker-frames  ;  others  sent  for  the  generals  and  called  the  trump- 
eter; and  the  city  was  full  of  commotion.  The  next  morning  at 
daybreak  the  presidents  summoned  the  council  to  their  hall,  and 
you  went  to  the  assembly,  and  before  they  could  introduce  or  pre- 
pare the  question,  the  whole  people  were  up  in  their  seats.  When 
the  council  had  entered,  and  the  presidents  had  reported  their  in- 
telligence and  presented  the  courier,  and  he  had  made  his  state- 
ment, the  crier  asked,  "'  Who  wishes  to  speak  ?  "  and  no  one  came 
forward.  The  crier  put  the  question  repeatedly  —  still  no  man 
rose,  though  all  the  generals  were  present  and  all  the  orators,  and 
our  country  with  her  common  voice  called  for  some  one  to  speak 
and  save  her  —  for  when  the  crier  raises  his  voice  according  to  law, 
it  may  justly  be  deemed  the  common  voice  of  our  country.  If  those 
who  desired  the  salvation  of  Athens  were  the  proper  parties  to 
come  forward,  all  of  you  and  the  other  Athenians  would  have  risen 
and  mounted  the  platform  ;  for  I  am  sure  you  all  desired  her  sal- 
vation —  if  those  of  greatest  wealth,  the  three  hundred  —  if  those 
who  were  both  friendly  to  the  state  and  wealthy,  the  men  who 
afterwards  gave  such  ample  donations,  for  patriotism  and  wealth  pro- 
duced the  gift.  But  that  occasion,  that  day,  as  it  seems,  called  not 
only  for  a  patriot  and  wealthy  man,  but  for  one  who  had  closely  fol- 
lowed the  proceedings  from  their  commencement,  and  rightly  calcu- 
lated for  what  object  and  purpose  Philip  carried  them  on.  A  man 
who  was  ignorant  of  these  matters,  or  had  not  long  and  carefully 
studied  them,  let  him  be  ever  so  patriotic  or  wealthy,  would  neither 
see  what  measures  were  needful,  nor  be  competent  to  advise  you. 

Well  then  —  I  was  the  man  called  for  upon  that  day.  I  came 
forward  and  addressed  you.  What  I  said,  I  beg  you  for  two  reasons 
attentively  to  hear  —  first,  to  be  convinced,  that  of  all  your  orators 
and  statesmen  I  alone  deserted  not  the  patriot's  post  in  the  hour 
of  danger,  but  was  found  in  the  very  moment  of  panic  speaking 
and  moving  what  your  necessities  required  —  secondly,  because  at 
the  expense  of  a  little  time  }ou  will  gain  large  experience  for  the 
future  in  all  your  political  concerns. 

I  said  —  those  who  were  in  such  alarm  under  the  idea  that 
Philip  had  got  the  Thebans  with  him  did  not,  in  my  opinion, 


6o4  READINGS   IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

understand  the  position  of  affairs  ;  for  I  was  sure  had  that  really 
been  so,  we  should  have  heard  not  of  his  being  at  Elatea,  but  upon 
our  frontiers  :  he  was  come,  however,  I  knew  for  certain,  to  make 
all  right  for  himself  in  Thebes.  "  Let  me  inform  you,"  said  I, 
"  how  the  matter  stands.  —  All  the  Thebans  whom  it  was  possible 
either  to  bribe  or  deceive  he  has  at  his  command  ;  those  who  have 
resisted  him  from  the  first  and  still  oppose  him  he  can  in  no  way 
prevail  upon  :  what  then  is  his  meaning,  and  why  has  he  seized 
upon  Elatea  ?  He  means,  by  displaying  a  force  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  bringing  up  his  troops,  to  encourage  and  embolden  his 
friends,  to  intimidate  his  adversaries,  that  they  may  either  con- 
cede from  fear  what  they  now  refuse,  or  be  compelled.  Now  "  — 
said  I  —  "if  we  determine  on  the  present  occasion  to  remember 
any  unkindness  which  the  Thebans  have  done  us,  and  to  regard 
them  in  the  character  of  enemies  with  distrust,  in  the  first  place, 
we  shall  be  doing  just  what  Philip  would  desire  ;  in  the  next  place, 
I  fear,  his  present  adversaries  embracing  his  friendship  and  all 
Philippising  with  one  consent,  they  will  both  march  against  Attica. 
But  if  you  will  hearken  to  me,  and  be  pleased  to  examine  (not  cavil 
at)  what  I  say,  I  believe  it  will  meet  your  approval,  and  I  shall  dis- 
pel the  danger  impending  over  Athens.  What  then  do  I  advise  ? 
—  First,  away  with  your  present  fear  ;  and  rather  fear  all  of  ye  for 
the  Thebans  —  they  are  nearer  harm  than  we  are  —  to  them  the 
peril  is  more  immediate  :  —  next  I  say,  march  to  Eleusis  all  the 
fighting-men  and  the  cavalry,  and  show  yourselves  to  the  world  in 
arms,  that  your  partisans  in  Thebes  may  have  equal  liberty  to  speak 
up  for  the  good  'cause,  knowing  that,  as  the  faction  who  sell  their 
country  to  Philip  have  an  army  to  support  them  at  Elatea,  so  the 
party  that  will  contend  for  freedom  have  your  assistance  at  hand 
if  they  are  assailed.  Further  I  recommend  you  to  elect  ten  ambas- 
sadors, and  empower  them  in  conjunction  with  the  generals  to  fix 
the  time  for  going  there  and  for  the  out-march.  When  the  ambas- 
sadors have  arrived  at  Thebes,  how  do  I  advise  that  you  should 
treat  the  matter  ?  Pray  attend  particularly  to  this  —  Ask  nothing 
of  the  Thebans  (it  would  be  dishonourable  at  this  time)  ;  but  offer 
to  assist  them  if  they  require  it,  on  the  plea  that  they  are  in  ex- 
treme danger,  and  we  see  the  future  better  than  they  do.    If  they 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  605 

accept  this  offer  and  hearken  to  our  counsels,  so  shall  we  have 
accomplished  what  we  desire,  and  our  conduct  will  look  worthy  of 
the  state :  should  we  miscarry,  they  will  have  themselves  to  blame 
for  any  error  committed  now,  and  we  shall  have  done  nothing 
dishonourable  or  mean." 

This  and  more  to  the  like  effect  I  spoke,  and  left  the  platform. 
It  was  approved  by  all :  not  a  word  was  said  against  me.  Nor  did 
I  make  the  speech  without  moving,  nor  make  the  motion  without 
undertaking  the  embassy,  nor  undertake  the  embassy  without  pre- 
vailing on  the  Thebans.  From  the  beginning  to  the  end  I  went 
through  it  all ;  I  gave  myself  entirely  to  your  service,  to  meet  the 
dangers  which  encompassed  Athens. 

Produce  me  the  decree  which  then  passed.  Now,  yEschines, 
how  would  you  have  me  describe  you,  and  how  myself,  upon  that 
day .''  Shall  I  call  myself  Batalus,  your  nickname  of  reproach,  and 
you  not  even  a  hero  of  the  common  sort,  but  one  of  those  upon 
the  stage,  Cresphontes  or  Creon,  or  the  CEnomaus  whom  you 
execrably  murdered  once  at  Collytus  ?  Well ;  upon  that  occasion 
I  the  Batalus  of  Paeania  was  more  serviceable  to  the  state  than 
you  the  CEnomaus  of  Cothocidae.  You  were  of  no  earthly  use  ;  I 
did  everything  which  became  a  good  citizen.    Read  the  decree. 

The  Decree  of  Demosthenes 

In  the  archonship  of  Nausicles,  in  the  presidency  of  the  yEantian 
tribe,  on  the  sixteenth  of  Scirophorion,  Demosthenes  son  of  Demos- 
thenes of  Paeania  moved  :  Whereas  Philip  king  of  Macedon  hath 
in  time  past  been  violating  the  treaty  of  peace  made  between  him 
and  the  Athenian  people,  in  contempt  of  his  oath  and  those  laws 
of  justice  which  are  recognised  among  all  the  Greeks,  and  hath 
been  annexing  unto  himself  cities  that  no  way  belong  to  him,  and 
hath  besieged  and  taken  some  which  belong  to  the  Athenians  with- 
out any  provocation  by  the  'people  of  Athens,  and  at  the  present 
time  he  is  making  great  advances  in  cruelty  and  violence,  foras- 
much as  in  certain  Greek  cities  he  puts  garrisons  and  overturns 
their  constitution,  some  he  razes  to  the  ground  and  sells  the  in- 
habitants for  slaves,  in  some  he  replaces  a  Greek  population  with 


6o6  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

barbarians,  giving  them  possession  of  the  temples  and  sepulchres, 
acting  in  no  way  foreign  to  his  own  country  or  character,  making 
an  insolent  use  of  his  present  fortune,  and  forgetting  that  from 
a  petty  and  insignificant  person  he  has  come  to  be  unexpectedly 
great :  and  the  people  of  Athens,  so  long  as  they  saw  him  annex- 
ing barbarian  or  private  cities  of  their  own,  less  seriously  regarded 
the  offence  given  to  themselves,  but  now  that  they  see  Greek  cities 
outraged  and  some  destroyed,  they  think  it  would  be  monstrous 
and  unworthy  of  their  ancestral  glory  to  look  on  while  the  Greeks 
are  enslaved  :  Therefore  it  is  resolved  by  the  Council  and  People 
of  Athens,  that  having  prayed  and  sacrificed  to  the  gods  and  heroes 
who  protect  the  Athenian  city  and  territory,  bearing  in  mind  the 
virtue  of  their  ancestors,  who  deemed  it  of  greater  moment  to  pre- 
serve the  liberty  of  Greece  than  their  own  country,  they  will  put 
two  hundred  ships  to  sea,  and  their  admiral  shall  sail  up  into  the 
straits  of  Thermopylae,  and  their  general  and  commander  of  horse 
shall  march  with  the  infantry  and  cavalry  to  Eleusis,  and  ambassa- 
dors shall  be  sent  to  the  other  Greeks,  and  first  of  all  to  the  The- 
bans,  because  Philip  is  nearest  their  territory,  and  shall  exhort 
them  without  dread  of  Philip  to  maintain  their  own  independence 
and  that  of  Greece  at  large,  and  assure  them  that  the  Athenian 
people,  not  remembering  any  variance  which  has  formerly  arisen 
between  the  countries,  will  assist  them  with  troops  and  money  and 
weapons  and  arms,  feeling  that  for  them  (being  Greeks)  to  contend 
among  themselves  for  the  leadership  is  honourable,  but  to  be  com- 
manded and  deprived  of  the  leadership  by  a  man  of  foreign  extrac- 
tion is  derogatory  to  the  renown  of  the  Greeks  and  the  virtue  of 
their  ancestors  :  further,  the  people  of  Athens  do  not  regard  the 
people  of  Thebes  as  aliens  either  in  blood  or  race ;  they  remember 
also  the  benefits  conferred  by  their  ancestors  upon  the  ancestors  of 
the  Thebans  ;  for  they  restored  the  children  of  Hercules  who  were 
kept  by  the  Peloponnesians  out  of  their  hereditary  dominion,  de- 
feating in  battle  those  who  attempted  to  resist  the  descendants  of 
Hercules ;  and  we  gave  shelter  to  GEdipus  and  his  comrades  in 
exile ;  and  many  other  kind  and  generous  acts  have  been  done  by 
us  to  the  Thebans  :  wherefore  now  also  the  people  of  Athens  will 
not  desert  the  interests  of  the  Thebans  and  the  other  Greeks :  and 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  607 

let  a  treaty  be  entered  into  with  them  for  alHance  and  intermarriage, 
and  oaths  be  mutually  exchanged.  Ambassadors  :  Demosthenes 
son  of  Demosthenes  of  Paeania,  Hyperides  son  of  Cleander  of 
Sphettus,  Mnesithides  son  of  Antiphanes  of  Phrearrhii,  Democ- 
rates  son  of  Sophilus  of  Phlya,  Callseschrus  son  of  Diotimus 
of  Cothocidas. 

Demosthenes,  Ou  the  Crown,  66-72 

But  I  return  to  the  question  —  What  should  the  commonwealth, 
^schines,  have  done,  when  she  saw  Philip  establishing  an  empire 
and  dominion  over  Greece  ?  Or  what  was  your  statesman  to  advise 
or  move  ?  ^ —  I,  a  statesman  at  Athens  ?  —  for  this  is  most  material 
—  I  who  knew  that  from  the  earliest  time,  until  the  day  of  my 
own  mounting  the  platform,  our  country  had  ever  striven  for  pre- 
cedency and  honour  and  renown,  and  expended  more  blood  and 
treasure  for  the  sake  of  glory  and  the  general  weal  than  the  rest 
of  the  Greeks  had  expended  on  their  several  interests?  —  who  saw 
that  Philip  himself,  with  whom  we  were  contending,  had,  in  the 
strife  for  power  and  empire,  had  his  eye  cut  out,  his  collar-bone 
fractured,  his  hand  and  leg  mutilated,  and  was  ready  and  willing 
to  sacrifice  any  part  of  his  body  that  fortune  chose  to  take,  provided 
he  could  live  with  the  remainder  in  honour  and  glory  ?  Hardly 
will  any  one  venture  to  say  this  —  that  it  became  a  man  bred  at 
Pella,  then  an  obscure  and  inconsiderable  place,  to  possess  such 
inborn  magnanimity,  as  to  aspire  to  the  riiastery  of  Greece  and 
form  the  project  in  his  mind,  whilst  you,  who  were  Athenians,  day 
after  day  in  speeches  and  in  dramas  reminded  of  the  virtue  of 
your  ancestors,  should  have  been  so  naturally  base,  as  of  }'Our  own 
free-will  and  accord  to  surrender  to  Philip  the  liberty  of  Greece. 
No  man  will  say  this  ! 

The  only  course  then  that  remained  was  a  just  resistance  to  all 
his  attacks  upon  you.  Such  course  you  took  from  the  beginning, 
properly  and  becomingly ;  and  I  assisted  by  motions  and  counsels 
during  the  period  of  my  political  life  :  —  I  acknowledge  it.  But 
what  should  I  have  done  }  I  put  this  question  to  you,  dismissing 
all  else  :  Amphipolis,  Pydna,  Potidaea,  Halonnesus  —  I  mention 
none  of  them  :   Serrium,  Doriscus,  the  ravaging  of  Peparethus, 


6o8  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

and  any  similar  wrongs  which  the  country  has  suffered  —  I  know 
not  even  of  their  occurrence.  You  indeed  said,  that  by  talking  of 
these  I  had  brought  the  people  into  a  quarrel,  although  the  resolu- 
tions respecting  them  were  moved  by  Eubulus  and  Aristophon  and 
Diopithes  —  not  by  me,  you  ready  utterer  of  what  suits  your  pur- 
pose !  Neither  will  I  speak  of  these  now.  But  I  ask  —  the  man 
who  was  appropriating  to  himself  Euboea,  and  making  it  a  fortress 
against  Attica,  and  attempting  Megara,  and  seizing  Oreus,  and 
razing  Porthmus,  and  setting  up  Philistides  as  tyrant  in  Oreus, 
Clitarchus  in  Eretria,  and  subjugating  the  Hellespont,  and  besieg- 
ing Byzantium,  and  destroying  some  of  the  Greek  cities,  restoring 
exiles  to  others,  — -  was  he  by  all  these  proceedings  committing  in- 
justice, breaking  the  truce,  violating  the  peace,  or  not.''  Was  it  meet 
that  any  of  the  Greeks  should  rise  up  to  prevent  these  proceedings, 
or  not .''  If  not  —  if  Greece  was  to  present  the  spectacle  (as  it  is 
called)  of  a  Mysian  prey,  whilst  Athenians  had  life  and  being,  then 
I  have  exceeded  my  duty  in  speaking  on  the  subject — the  common- 
wealth has  exceeded  her  duty,  which  followed  my  counsels  —  I 
admit  that  every  measure  has  been  a  misdeed,  a  blunder  of  mine. 
But  if  some  one  ought  to  have  arisen  to  prevent  these  things,  who 
but  the  Athenian  people  should  it  have  been  }  Such  then  was  the 
policy  which  I  espoused.  I  saw  him  reducing  all  men  to  subjec- 
tion, and  I  opposed  him  :  I  continued  warning  and  exhorting  you 
not  to  make  these  sacrifices  to  Philip. 

It  was  he  that  infringed  the  peace  by  taking  our  ships  :  it  was 
not  the  state  yEschines. 

5.  CH/ERONEA  AND  ITS  RESULTS 

We  have  a  very  meager  narrative  of  the  battle  of  Chaeronea 
(in  Diodorus),  but  it  is  interesting  to  read  Plutarch's  remark  on 
the  presence  of  the  young  Alexander  in  the  battle. 

Plutarch,  Alexander^  9 

At  the  battle  of  Chasronea,  which  his  father  fought  against  the 
Grecians,  he  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  man  that  charged  the 
Thebans'  sacred  band.  And  even  in  my  remembrance,  there  stood 
an  old  oak  near  the  river  Cephisus,  which  people  called  Alexander's 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  609 

oak,  because  his  tent  was  pitched  under  it.  And  not  far  off 
are  to  be  seen  the  graves  of  the  Macedonians  who  fell  in  that 
battle.  This  early  bravery  made  Philip  so  fond  of  him,  that  nothing 
pleased  him  more  than  to  hear  his  subjects  call  himself  their  gen- 
eral and  Alexander  their  king. 

As  was  customary,  a  public  funeral  was  held  for  those  who. had 
fallen  in  action.  The  oration  was  delivered  by  Demosthenes,  but 
it  has  not  been  found. 

The  epitaph  which  he  quotes  is  now  regarded  as  a  forgery,  but 
the  one  which  follows  is  considered  genuine.^ 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Crown,  285-290 

Many  great  and  glorious  enterprises  has  the  commonwealth, 
.^schines,  undertaken  and  succeeded  in  through  me  ;  and  she  did 
not  forget  them.  Here  is  the  proof  —  On  the  election  of  a  person 
to  speak  the  funeral  oration  immediately  after  the  event,  you  were 
proposed,  but  the  people  would  not  have  you,  notwithstanding  your 
fine  voice,  nor  Demades,  though  he  had  just  made  the  peace,  nor 
Hegemon,  nor  any  other  of  your  party  —  but  me.  And  when  you 
and  Pythocles  came  forward  in  a  brutal  and  shameful  manner 
(O  merciful  heaven  !)  and  urged  the  same  accusations  against  me 
which  you  now  do,  and  abused  me,  they  elected  me  all  the  more. 
The  reason — you  are  not  ignorant  of  it — yet  I  will  tell  you.  The 
Athenians  knew  as  well  the  loyalty  and  zeal  with  which  I  conducted 
their  affairs  as  the  dishonesty  of  you  and  your  party;  for  what  you 
denied  upon  oath  in  our  prosperity  you  confessed  in  the  misfortunes 
of  the  republic.  They  considered,  therefore,  that  men  who  got  se- 
curity for  their  politics  by  the  public  disasters  had  been  their  ene- 
mies long  before,  and  were  then  avowedly  such.  They  thought  it 
right  also  that  the  person  who  was  to  speak  in  honour  of  the  fallen 
and  celebrate  their  valour  should  not  have  sat  under  the  same  roof 
or  at  the  same  table  with  their  antagonists  ;  that  he  should  not 
revel  there  and  sing  a  p?ean  over  the  calamities  of  Greece  in  com- 
pany with  their  murderers,  and  then  come  here  and  receive  distinc- 
tion ;  that  he  should  not  with  his  voice  act  the  mourner  of  their 

1  See  note,  §  2S9,  in  Goodwin,  "  De  Corona,"  short  edition. 


6io  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

fate,  but  that  he  should  lament  over  them  with  his  heart.  This  they 
perceived  in  themselves  and  in  me,  but  not  in  any  of  you  :  there- 
fore they  elected  me,  and  not  you.  Nor,  while  the  people  felt  thus, 
did  the  fathers  and  brothers  of  the  deceased,  who  were  chosen  by 
the  people  to  perform  their  obsequies,  feel  differently.  For  having 
to  order  the  funeral  banquet  (according  to  custom)  at  the  house  of 
the  nearest  relative  to  the  deceased,  they  ordered  it  at  mine.  And 
with  reason  :  because,  though  each  to  his  own  was  nearer  of  kin 
than  I  was,  none  was  so  near  to  them  all  collectively.  He  that  had 
the  deepest  interest  in  their  safety  and  success  had  upon  their 
mournful  disaster  the  largest  share  of  sorrow  for  them  all. 

Read  him  this  epitaph,  which  the  state  chose  to  inscribe  on 
their  monument,  that  you  may  see  even  by  this,  yEschines,  what  a 
heartless  and  malignant  wretch  you  are.    Read. 

The  Epitaph 

These  are  the  patriot  brave,  who  side  by  side 
Stood  to  their  arms,  and  dash'd  the  foeman"s  pride : 
Firm  in  their  valour,  prodigal  of  life, 
Hades  they  chose  the  arbiter  of  strife ; 
That  Greeks  might  ne'er  to  haughty  victors  bow, 
Nor  thraldom's  yoke,  nor  dire  oppression  know  ; 
They  fought,  they  bled,  and  on  their  country's  breast 
(Such  was  the  doom  of  heaven)  these  warriors  rest. 
Gods  never  lack  success,  nor  strive  in  vain, 
But  man  must  suffer  what  the  fates  ordain. 

Do  you  hear,  ^schines,  in  this  very  inscription,  that  "'  Gods 
never  lack  success,  nor  strive  in  vain.? "  Not  to  the  statesman  does 
it  ascribe  the  power  of  giving  victory  in  battle,  but  to  the  Gods. 
Wherefore,  then,  execrable  man,  do  you  reproach  me  with  these 
things  ?  Wherefore  utter  such  language  ?  I  pray  that  it  may  fall 
upon  the  heads  of  you  and  yours. 

Palatine  Anthology,  VII,  245 

Epitaph  over  those  who  fell  at  Ch^ronea 

O  time,  all-surveying  spirit  of  all  things  for  mortals, 
Bear  thou  the  tidings  to  all  men  of  our  fate, 
That  trying  to  save  the  holy  land  of  Hellas 
We  perished  in  the  famed  meadows  of  Boeotia. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  6ii 

The  following  pathetic  little  word-picture  is  taken  from  an  ora- 
tion of  Lycurgus. 

Lycurgus,  Against  Leocrafes,  39-42  (in  Jebb,  "  Attic  Orators,"  Vol.  II, 

PP-  378-379) 
In  those  days,  Athenians,  who  would  not  have  pitied  the  city  — 
what  citizen,  ay,  or  what  stranger  that  had  visited  it  formerly  ? 
Who  was  then  so  bitter  against  the  democracy  or  against  Athens 
that  he  could  have  endured  to  find  himself  without  a  place  in  the 
ranks  of  defenders,  when  the  news  came  of  the  defeat  and  the  dis- 
aster that  had  befallen  the  people,  when  the  city  was  all  excitement 
at  the  tidings,  when  the  hopes  of  public  safety  had  come  to  rest  on 
the  men  past  fifty,  when  you  might  see  free-born  women  crouch- 
ing in  terror  at  the  house-doors,  asking  if  he  is  alive  —  the  hus- 
band, the  father,  or  the  brother  —  a  sight  humiliating  for  the  city 
and  for  her  daughters  ;  while  men  decrepit  of  frame,  well  stricken 
in  years,  released  by  the  laws  from  service  under  armSj  men  on  the 
threshold  that  leads  from  age  to  death,  might  be  seen  hurrying 
helplessly  through  the  city,  with  their  mantles  pinned  in  double 
folds  around  them  ?  But,  many  as  were  the  miseries  in  the  city, 
great  as  was  the  ruin  that  had  come  on  all  the  citizens,  the  keenest 
grief,  the  bitterest  tears,  were  due  to  the  fortunes  of  the  city  itself 
—  when  the  edict,  declaring  slaves  to  be  free  men,  aliens  to  be 
Athenians,  the  disfranchised  to  be  reinstated,  was  read  by  any  man 
who  once,  perhaps,  had  prided  himself  on  being  a  free-born  son 
of  the  Attic  soil.  The  reverse  that  had  befallen  the  city  was  even 
this  :  formerly  she  had  vindicated  the  freedom  of  the.  Greeks  — 
tJicn  she  thought  it  enough  if  she  could  successfully  defend  her  own 
existence  ;  formerly  she  had  ruled  far  and  wide  over  the  land  of  bar- 
barians—  tJien  she  was  battling  with  Macedonians  for  hq"  own  ;  and 
the  people  whose  aid  was  once  invoked  by  Lacedaemonians,  by  Pelo- 
ponnesians  and  by  the  Greeks  of  Asia  was  driven  to  seek  succour  for 
itself  from  the  men  of  Andros,  of  Ceos,  of  Troczen,  of  Epidaurus. 

6.  THE  ATTACK  OF  ^iSCIIINES  ON  DEMOSTHENES 
Even  the  common  calamity  at  Chseronea  did  not  succeed  in 
putting  to  rest  the  strong  party  feeling  and,  above  all,  the  personal 
enmities. 


6i2  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

When  Ctesiphon  proposed  a  decree  to  grant  a  crown  to  De- 
mosthenes for  services  rendered  in  the  war,  yEschines  opposed  it 
most  strenuously  and  heaped  abuse  on  Demosthenes,  accusing 
him  of  blundering  mismanagement,  corruptibility,  conceit,  and  self- 
advertisement.  This  oration  has  the  sound  of  an  overpayment  in 
kind  for  the  oration,  '"  On  the  Embassy." 

Plutarch,  Demosthenes^  21-22 

At  this  time,  however,  upon  the  ill-success  which  now  happened 
to  the  Grecians,  those  of  the  contrary  faction  in  the  commonwealth 
fell  foul  upon  Demosthenes  and  took  the  opportunity  to  frame  sev- 
eral informations  and  indictments  against  him.  But  the  people  not 
only  acquitted  him  of  these  accusations,  but  continued  towards  him 
their  former  respect,  and  still  invited  him,  as  a  man  that  meant 
well,  to  take  a  part  in  public  affairs.  Insomuch  that  when  the  bones 
of  those  who  had  been  slain  at  Chasronea  were  brought  home  to  be 
solemnly  interred,  Demosthenes  was  the  man  they  chose  to  make 
the  funeral  oration.  They  did  not  show,  under  the  misfortunes 
which  befell  them,  a  base  or  ignoble  mind,  as  Theopompus  writes 
in  his  exaggerated  style,  but  on  the  contrary,  by  the  honour  and 
respect  paid  to  their  counsellor,  they  made  it  appear  that  they  were 
noway  dissatisfied  with  the  counsels  he  had  given  them.  The  speech, 
therefore,  was  spoken  by  Demosthenes.  But  the  subsequent  decrees 
he  would  not  allow  to  be  passed  in  his  own  name,  but  made  use  of 
those  of  his  friends,  one  after  another,  looking  upon  his  own  as 
unfortunate  and  inauspicious  ;  till  at  length  he  took  courage  again 
after  the  death  of  Philip,  who  did  not  long  outlive  his  victory  at 
Chaeronea.  And  this,  it  seems,  was  that  which  was  foretold  in  the 
last  verse  of  the  oracle  — 

Conquered  shall  weep,  and  conqueror  perish  there. 

Demosthenes  had  secret  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Philip,  and 
laying  hold  of  this  opportunity  to  prepossess  the  people  with  cour- 
age and  better  hopes  for  the  future,  he  came  into  the  assembly 
with  a  cheerful  countenance,  pretending  to  have  had  a  dream  that 
presaged  some  great  good  fortune  for  Athens  ;  and,  not  long  after, 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  613 

arrived  the  messengers  who  brought  the  news  of  Phihp's  death. 
No  sooner  had  the  people  received  it,  but  immediately  they  offered 
sacrifice  to  the  gods,  and  decreed  that  Pausanias  should  be  pre- 
sented with  a  crown.  Demosthenes  appeared  publicly  in  a  rich 
dress,  with  a  chaplet  on  his  head,  though  it  were  but  the  seventh 
day  since  the  death  of  his  daughter,  as  is  said  by  ^schines,  who 
upbraids  him  upon  this  account,  and  rails  at  him  as  one  void  of 
natural  affection  towards  his  children.  Whereas,  indeed,  he  rather 
betrays  himself  to  be  of  a  poor,  low  spirit,  and  effeminate  mind, 
if  he  really  means  to  make  wailings  and  lamentation  the  only  signs 
of  a  gentle  and  affectionate  nature,  and  to  condemn  those  who  bear 
such  accidents  with  more  temper  and  less  passion.  For  my  own 
part,  I  cannot  say  that  the  behaviour  of  the  Athenians  on  this  occa- 
sion was  wise  or  honourable,  to  crown  themselves  with  garlands 
and  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods  for  the  death  of  a  prince  who,  in  the 
midst  of  his  success  and  victories,  when  they  were  a  conquered 
people,  had  used  them  with  so  much  clemency  and  humanity.  For 
besides  provoking  fortune,  it  was  a  base  thing,  and  unworthy  in 
itself,  to  make  him  a  citizen  of  Athens,  and  pay  him  honours  while 
he  lived,  and  yet  as  soon  as  he  fell  by  another's  hand,  to  set  no 
bounds  to  their  jollity,  to  insult  over  him  dead,  and  to  sing  trium- 
phant songs  of  victory,  as  if  by  their  own  valour  they  had  van- 
quished him.  I  must  at  the  same  time  commend  the  behaviour  of 
Demosthenes,  who,  leaving  tears  and  lamentations  and  domestic 
sorrows  to  the  women,  made  it  his  business  to  attend  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  commonwealth. 

^SCHINES,  Against  Ctesiphon,  148-15 1 

And  of  the  three  previously  mentioned  crimes,  the  third  (of  which 
I  am  now  going  to  speak)  is  the  greatest.  Philip  did  not  despise 
the  Greeks,  and  he  knew,  for  he  was  not  a  fool,  that  within  a  frac- 
tion of  a  day  he  was  to  fight  for  all  he  had,  and  therefore  wished 
to  make  the  peace,  and  was  at  the  point  of  sending  ambassadors 
to  that  end  ;  the  archons  in  Thebes  were  afraid  of  the  impending 
danger,  with  very  good  reason  too  ;  for  it  was  no  orator  who  had 
never  seen  service  and  a  deserter  from  his  post,  who  admonished 
them,  but  the  Phocian  war  by  ten  years  of  teaching  had  stamped 


6i4  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

the  lesson  on  their  memories,  Demosthenes,  perceiving  the  condi- 
tion of  things  and  suspecting  that  the  Boeotarchs  were  going  to 
make  peace  on  their  own  account  and  to  get  money  from  Phihp 
without  a  share  for  him,  thinking  that  Hfe  was  intolerable  if  he 
was  to  miss  the  chance  of  a  bribe,  started  up  in  the  assembly, 
(though  no  one  was  urging  that  peace  ought  to  be  made  or  that  it 
ought  not,  but  with  the  idea  of  proclaiming  publicly  to  the  Boeo- 
tarchs to  give  him  a  share  of  the  spoils),  and  he  solemnly  swore 
by  Athena  (very  likely  the  one  which  Phidias  made  that  Demos- 
thenes might  make  his  profits  and  swear  his  false  oaths  by),  that 
if  anyone  should  venture  to  say  that  peace  should  be  made  with 
Philip  he  would  seize  him  by  the  hair  and  drag  him  off  to  prison, 
thereby  emulating  the  statesmanship  of  Cleophon,  who,  as  they 
say,  proved  the  ruin  of  the  city  in  the  time  of  the  war  with  Sparta. 
And  as  the  Boeotarchs  paid  no  attention  to  him,  but  turned  back 
your  troops  which  had  started,  in  order  that  you  might  confer  about 
the  peace,  straightway  he  went  quite  mad  and  mounting  the  plat- 
form branded  the  Boeotians  as  the  betrayers  of  Hellas,  and  said 
he  would  frame  a  decree  —  he  who  never  looked  a  foe  in  the  face 
—  to  send  you  as  ambassadors  to  Thebes  to  ask  a  passage  through 
to  Philip.  And  the  Theban  magistrates  were  filled  with  shame  at 
the  thought  of  being  regarded  as  really  the  betrayers  of  Greece 
and  turned  from  the  peace  and  plunged  into  preparations  for  war. 

yEscHiNES,  Against  Ctesiphon,  178-188 

If  anyone  should  ask  you  whether  the  city  seems  more  famous 
now  or  in  the  days  of  our  ancestors,  you  would  say  in  the  days  of 
our  ancestors.  Were  men  better  then  or  now  ?  Then  they  were 
distinguished,  but  now  we  have  degenerated.  And  were  rewards 
and  crowns  and  proclamations  and  banquets  in  the  town-hall  more 
frequent  then  or  now  ?  Then  such  things  were  rare  and  the  name 
of  virtue  was  honored  ;  but  now  the  thing  has  lost  its  lustre  and 
now  you  grant  crowns  as  a  matter  of  course,  not  for  a  real  purpose. 
And  is  it  not  absurd,  when  we  think  of  it,  that  though  there  are 
more  rewards  now  the  fortunes  of  the  city  were  higher  then,  and 
that  men  are  worse  now  but  were  better  then  ?  I  will  try  to  explain 
this  to  you. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  615 

Would  you  think,  Athenians,  that  anyone  would  ever  have  at- 
tempted to  train  for  the  pancratium  or  some  other  hard  event  in 
the  Olympic  games  or  one  of  the  other  festivals  if  the  crown  was 
given  not  to  the  strongest  but  to  the  man  who  cheated  his  way 
through  ?  Everyone  would  have  refused  to  enter.  As  it  is,  I  think 
some  wish  to  be  victors  because  it  is  a  rare  distinction  and  one 
much  sought  after  and  honorable  and  ever  to  be  remembered,  and 
so  they  hazard  their  lives  and  endure  risking  the  greatest  physical 
hardship.  Suppose  now  that  you  yourselves  are  judges  of  a  contest 
of  political  excellence,  and  consider  this, — that  if  you  give  rewards 
to  a  few  and  to  those  who  deserve  it  and  in  accordance  with  the 
rules  you  will  have  many  contestants  for  the  prize  of  excellence, 
but  if  you  confer  it  as  a  favor  at  random  on  the  first  that  comes 
and  on  dishonest  winners,  you  will  destroy  even  the  best  characters. 
And  to  prove  that  I  am  right,  I  desire  to  argue  more  fully  for  a 
moment  longer. 

Which  seems  to  you  the  better  man,  Themistocles  who  was  gen- 
eral when  you  conquered  the  Persians  in  the  sea-fight  at  Salamis, 
or  Demosthenes  who  deserted  his  place  in  battle  ?  —  Miltiades  the 
victor  in  the  battle  of  Marathon  or  Demosthenes .?  Those  from 
Phyle  who  restored  the  exiled  democracy .?  or  Aristides  who  had 
a  nickname  so  unlike  that  of  Demosthenes  ?  No,  by  the  Olympian 
gods,  I  do  not  think  it  right  to  speak  of  this  savage  in  the  same 
day  as  those  men.  However,  let  Demosthenes  show  in  his  own 
speech  if  there  is  any  record  that  any  of  these  men  should  have 
a  crown.  Then  the  democracy  was  ungrateful  ?  No  indeed,  but 
high-minded  ;  and  these  men  who  were  not  honored  were  worthy 
of  the  city,  for  they  thought  they  should  be  honored  not  in  decrees 
but  in  the  memory  of  those  they  had  served,  the  memory  which 
from  that  day  to  this  remains  immortal.  And  yet,  they  did  receive 
certain  rewards  and  we  must  recall  them. 

There  were  some  men,  Athenians,  in  those  days  who  endured 
great  hardship  and  many  dangers  at  the  river  Strymon  and  con- 
quered the  Medes  in  battle,  and  on  their  return  they  asked  a  re- 
ward of  the  people.  And  the  people  gave  them  great  honors,  as 
it  seemed  then, — to  set  up  three  stone  Hermae  in  the  colonnade 
of  the  Hermae,  but  on  condition  that  the  names  of  the  men  should 


6i6  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

not  be  inscribed  on  them,  in  order  that  the  inscription  should 
appear  to  belong  to  the  state  and  not  to  the  generals. 

From  the  poems  themselves  you  will  see  that  I  am  speaking 
the  truth. 

On  the  first  of  the  Hermae  is  inscribed  : 

With  the  Atridas  of  old,  from  this  our  city,  Menestheus 

Led  his  men  to  the  plain  Trojan  called  and  divine. 
He,  once  Homer  asserted,  among  well-armored  Achaeans, 

Marshaller  was  of  the  fight,  best  of  them  all  who  had  come. 
Thus  there  is  naught  unseemly  in  giving  that  name  to  Athenians ; 

Marshallers  they  both  of  war  and  of  the  vigor  of  men ; 

and  on  the  second  :  — 

Valorous-hearted  as  well  were  they  who  at  Eion  fighting, 
Facing  the  sons  of  the  Medes,  Strymon's  current  beside, 

Fiery  famine  arrayed,  and  gore-flecked  Ares,  against  them, 
Thus  first  finding  for  foes  that  grim  exit,  —  despair ; 

and  on  the  third  :  — 

Unto  their  leaders  reward  by  Athenians  thus  hath  been  given ; 

Benefits  won  such  return,  valorous  deeds  of  the  brave. 
All  the  more  strong  at  the  sight  will  the  men  of  the  future  be  eager, 

Fighting  for  commonwealth,  war's  dread  strife  to  maintain. ^ 

Are  the  names  of  the  generals  anywhere  ?  No,  only  that  of 
the  people. 

Enter  now,  in  imagination,  the  Painted  Colonnade,  for  memorials 
of  all  your  splendid  deeds  are  dedicated  in  the  agora.  What  is  it, 
men  of  Athens,  that  I  mean  ?  There  is  painted  the  battle  of  Mara- 
thon. Who  then  was  the  general .?  If  asked  this  you  would  all 
answer  Miltiades,  but  his  name  is  not  written  there.  How  was  that.-* 
Did  he  not  ask  that  honor  ?  He  asked  it  but  the  people  did  not 
grant  it ;  instead  of  his  name  they  agreed  that  he  should  be  painted 
exhorting  the  soldiers.  In  the  Metroon,  however,  is  to  be  seen  the 
reward  which  you  gave  those  from  Phyle  who  restored  the  exiled 
democracy. 

The  one  who  proposed  and  carried  the  decree  was  Archinus 
from  Coile,  one  of  those  who  restored  the  democrats.   He  proposed 

1  Epigrams  (tr.  Perrin),  Plutarch's  "  Cimon  and  Pericles,"  p.  79. 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  617 

first :  to  give  tliem  a  thousand  drachmas  for  sacrifices  and  offer- 
ings, and  that  is  less  than  ten  drachmae  a  man ;  then  it  orders 
each  of  them  to  be  crowned  with  a  wreath  of  ohve,  not  of  gold  ; 
for  then  the  green  crown  was  held  in  honor,  but  now  even  the  gold 
one  is  regarded  slightly. 

And  not  even  this  reward  was  to  be  given  rashly,  but  the  senate 
was  to  investigate  exactly  how  many  were  besieged  at  Phyle,  when 
the  Lacedaemonians  and  the  Thirty  attacked  them,  not  how  many 
fied  from  their  posts  on  the  field  at  the  approach  of  the  enemy  ! 

^4<^SCHINES,  Against  Ctesipko/i,  237-241 

If  you  pass  to  the  second  part  of  the  decree  in  which  you  have 
dared  to  insert  the  statement  that  he  is  an  excellent  man  and  never 
fails  to  give  the  people  of  the  Athenians  good  advice  and  good 
service,  lay  aside  the  false  pretense  and  boastfulness  of  the  decree 
and  come  down  to  facts;  show  us  what  you  mean.  The  acceptance 
of  bribes  in  regard  to  Amphissa  and  Euboea  I  pass  over,  but  when 
you  attribute  the  responsibility  for  the  alliance  with  Thebes  to 
Demosthenes,  you  deceive  the  uninformed,  and  insult  those  who 
know  and  understand  the  case.  For  by  leaving  out  of  the  question 
the  nature  of  the  crisis  and  the  reputation  of  these  men  because  of 
whom  the  alliance  was  made,  you  think  you  can  cheat  us  in  con- 
ferring on  Demosthenes  the  prestige  belonging  to  the  city.  The 
enormity  of  this  bragging  I  shall  try  to  show  you  by  a  striking  ex- 
ample. The  king  of  Persia,  not  long  before  Alexander  crossed  to 
Asia,  sent  down  to  our  people  a  very  insulting  and  barbaric  letter, 
in  which  many  things  were  said  in  a  very  boorish  way,  and  at  the 
end  he  wrote  :  —  "I  will  not  give  you  gold,  do  not  ask  me  ;  you 
will  not  get  it."  This  same  king,  however,  embarrassed  by  the 
present  dangers  which  threaten  him,  voluntarily  (for  the  Athenians 
did  not  ask  it),  sent  three  hundred  talents  to  the  people,  who  were 
too  wise  to  take  it.  But  what  got  the  money  was  the  emergency 
and  his  fear  and  need  of  allies.  And  it  was  the  same  thing  that 
brought  to  pass  the  alliance  with  Thebes.  You  bore  us  with  your 
incessant  talk  about  Thebes  and  that  unfortunate  alliance,  but  you 
are  very  quiet  about  the  seven  hundred  talents  you  took  and  re- 
served for  yourself  out  of  the  king's  gold.    Was  it  not  for  want  of 


6i8  READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 

money,  for  a  matter  of  five  talents  that  the  foreign  garrison  failed 
to  surrender  the  Cadmea  ?  Was  it  not  for  lack  of  ten  talents  of 
silver,  at  a  time  when  all  the  Arcadians  were  in  readiness  and  their 
leaders  were  prepared  to  help,  that  the  undertaking  has  come  to 
naught?  But  you  are  rich  and  minister  to  your  own  pleasures.  And 
in  fine,  —  Ctesiphon  has  the  king's  gold  and  we  have  all  the  peril. 
It  is  worth  the  trouble  to  observe  their  lack  of  good  breeding. 
For  if  Ctesiphon  has  the  nerve  to  summon  Demosthenes  and  he 
rises  to  sing  his  own  praises,  the  recital  will  be  a  more  bitter  ex- 
perience than  all  the  misfortunes  we  have  suffered  at  his  hands. 
For  we  do  not  put  up  with  really  good  men  whose  excellencies  are 
matters  of  knowledge  to  us  when  they  sing  their  own  praise.  Who 
then  could  control  himself  to  listen  when  a  creature  who  has  been 
a  disgrace  to  the  state  lauds  himself .-' 


7.  DEMOSTHENES   DEFENDS  HIS  OWN  POLICY 

The  answer  of  Demosthenes  is  no  less  scathing  in  parts  ;  it  has, 
about  it,  however,  a  dignity  and  true  patriotism. 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Crown,  297-305 

Then  do  you  ask  me,  yEschines,  for  what  merit  I  claim  to  be 
honored }  I  will  tell  you.  Because,  while  all  the  statesmen  in 
Greece,  beginning  with  yourself,  have  been  corrupted  formerly  by 
Philip  and  now  by  Alexander,  me  neither  opportunity,  nor  fair 
speeches,  nor  large  promises,  nor  hope,  nor  fear,  nor  anything  else 
could  tempt  or  induce  to  betray  ought  that  I  considered  just  and 
beneficial  to  my  country.  Whatever  I  have  advised  my  fellow-citizens, 
I  have  never  advised  like  you  men,  leaning  as  in  a  balance  to  the 
side  of  profit :  all  my  proceedings  have  been  those  of  a  soul  up- 
right, honest,  and  incorrupt :  entrusted  with  affairs  of  greater  mag- 
nitude than  any  of  my  contemporaries,  I  have  administered  them 
all  honestly  and  faithfully.    Therefore  do  I  claim  to  be  honoured. 

As  to  this  fortification,  for  which  you  ridiculed  me,  of  the  wall 
and  fosse,  I  regard  them  as  deserving  of  thanks  and  praise,  and 
so  they  are ;  but  I  place  them  nowhere  near  my  acts  of  administra- 
tion.   Not  with  stones  nor  with  bricks  did  I  fortify  Athens  :  nor 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  619 

is  this  the  ministry  on  which  I  most  pride  myself.  Would  you  view 
my  fortifications  aright,  you  will  find  arms,  and  states,  and  posts, 
and  harbours,  and  galleys,  and  horses,  and  men  for  their  defence. 
These  are  the  bulwarks  with  which  I  protected  Attica,  as  far  as  was 
possible  by  human  wisdom  ;  with  these  I  fortified  our  territory,  not 
the  circle  of  Piraeus  or  the  city.  Nay  more  ;  I  was  not  beaten  by 
Philip  in  estimates  or  preparations  ;  far  from  it ;  but  the  generals 
and  forces  of  the  allies  were  overcome  by  his  fortune.  Where  are 
the  proofs  of  this  .''    They  are  plain  and  evident.    Consider. 

What  was  the  course  becoming  a  loyal  citizen  —  a  statesman 
serving  his  country  with  all  possible  forethought  and  zeal  and 
fidelity .''  Should  he  not  have  covered  Attica  on  the  seaboard  with 
Euboea,  on  the  midland  frontier  with  Boeotia,  on  the  Peloponnesian 
with  the  people  of  that  confine  ?  Should  he  not  have  provided  for 
the  conveyance  of  corn  along  a  friendly  coast  all  the  way  to  Piraeus  .-• 
preserved  certain  places  that  belonged  to  us  by  sending  off  suc- 
cours, and  by  advising  and  moving  accordingly,  —  Proconnesus, 
Chersonesus,  Tenedos  .''  brought  others  into  alliance  and  confeder- 
acy with  us,  —  Byzantium,  Abydus,  Eubcea.^ — ^cut  off  the  principal 
resources  of  the  enemy,  and  supplied  what  the  commonwealth  was 
deficient  in  }  All  this  has  been  accomplished  by  my  decrees  and 
measures  ;  and  whoever  will  examine  them  without  prejudice,  men 
of  Athens,  will  find  they  were  rightly  planned  and  faithfully  exe- 
cuted ;  that  none  of  the  proper  seasons  were  lost  or  missed  or 
thrown  away  by  me,  nothing  which  depended  on  one  man's  ability 
and  prudence  was  neglected.  But  if  the  power  of  some  deity  or  of 
fortune,  or  the  worthlessness  of  commanders,  or  the  wickedness 
of  you  that  betrayed  your  countries,  or  all  these  things  together, 
injured  and  eventually  ruined  our  cause,  of  what  is  Demosthenes 
guilty .''  Had  there  in  each  of  the  Greek  cities  been  one  such  man 
as  I  was  in  my  station  among  you  ;  or  rather,  had  Thessaly  pos- 
sessed one  single  man,  and  Arcadia  one,  of  the  same  sentiments 
as  myself,  none  of  the  Greeks  either  beyond  or  within  Thermopylae 
would  have  suffered  their  present  calamities  :  all  would  have  been 
free  and  independent,  living  prosperously  in  their  own  countries 
with  perfect  safety  and  security,  thankful  to  }'ou  and  the  rest  of 
the  Athenians  for  such  manifold  blessings  through  me. 


620  READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

To  show  you  that  I  greatly  understate  my  services  for  fear  of 
giving  offence,  here  —  read  me  this  —  the  Hst  of  auxiharies  pro- 
cured by  my  decrees. 

Demosthenes,  On  the  Crown,  314-324 

You  mention  the  good  men  of  olden  times  ;  and  you  are  right 
so  to  do.  Yet  it  is  hardly  fair,  O  Athenians,  that  he  should  get 
the  advantage  of  that  respect  which  you  have  for  the  dead,  to  com- 
pare and  contrast  me  with  them  —  me  who  am  living  among  you ; 
for  what  mortal  is  ignorant,  that  towards  the  living  there  exists 
always  more  or  less  of  illwill,  whereas  the  dead  are  no  longer  hated 
even  by  an  enemy }  Such  being  human  nature,  am  I  to  be  tried 
and  judged  by  the  standard  of  my  predecessors  }  Heaven  forbid  ! 
It  is  not  just  or  equitable,  /Eschines.  Let  me  be  compared  with 
you,  or  any  persons  you  like  of  your  party  who  are  still  alive.  And 
consider  this  —  whether  it  is  more  honourable  and  better  for  the 
state,  that  because  of  the  services  of  a  former  age,  prodigious 
though  they  are  beyond  all  power  of  expression,  those  of  the  present 
generation  should  be  unrequited  and  spurned,  or  that  all  who  give 
proof  of  their  good  intentions  should  have  their  share  of  honour  and 
regard  from  the  people.?  Yet  indeed  —  if  I  must  say  so  much — my 
politics  and  principles,  if  considered  fairly,  will  be  found  to  resemble 
those  of  the  illustrious  ancients,  and  to  have  had  the  same  objects  in 
view,  while  yours  resemble  those  of  their  calumniators  :  for  it  is  cer- 
tain there  were  persons  in  those  times  who  ran  down  the  living  and 
praised  people  dead  and  gone  with  a  malignant  purpose  like  yourself. 

You  say  that  I  am  nothing  like  the  ancients.  Are  you  like  them, 
yEschines }  Is  your  brother,  or  any  of  our  speakers }  I  assert  that 
none  is.  But  pray,  my  good  fellow  (that  I  may  give  you  no  other 
name),  try  the  living  with  the  living  and  with  his  competitors,  as 
you  would  in  all  cases  —  poets,  dancers,  athletes.  Philammon  did 
not,  because  he  was  inferior  to  Glaucus  of  Carystus  and  some  other 
champions  of  a  bygone  age,  depart  uncrowned  from  Olympia,  but, 
because  he  beat  all  who  entered  the  ring  against  him,  was  crowned 
and  proclaimed  conqueror.  So  I  ask  you  to  compare  me  with  the 
orators  of  the  day,  with  yourself,  with  any  one  you  like :  I  yield  to 
none.    When  the  commonwealth  was  at  liberty  to  choose  for  her 


THE  RISE  OF  MACEDON  621 

advantage,  and  patriotism  was  a  matter  of  emulation,  I  showed 
myself  a  better  counsellor  than  any,  and  every  act  of  state  was 
pursuant  to  my  decrees  and  laws  and  negotiations  :  none  of  your 
party  was  to  be  seen,  unless  you  had  to  do  the  Athenians  a  mis- 
chief. After  that  lamentable  occurrence,  when  there  was  a  call  no 
longer  for  advisers,  but  for  persons  obedient  to  command,  persons 
ready  to  be  hired  against  their  country  and  willing  to  flatter 
strangers,  then  all  of  you  were  in  occupation,  grand  people  with 
splendid  equipages ;  I  was  powerless,  I  confess,  though  more 
attached  to  my  countrymen  than  you. 

Two  things,  men  of  Athens,  are  characteristic  of  a  well-disposed 
citizen  —  so  may  I  speak  of  myself  and  give  the  least  offence  — 
In  authority,  his  constant  aim  should  be  the  dignity  and  pre- 
eminence of  the  commonwealth  ;  in  all  times  and  circumstances  his 
spirit  should  be  loyal.  This  depends  upon  nature ;  power  and  might 
upon  other  things.  Such  a  spirit,  you  will  find,  I  have  ever  sin- 
cerely cherished.  Only  see.  When  my  person  was  demanded  — 
when  they  brought  Amphictyonic  suits  against  me  —  when  they 
menaced  —  when  they  promised  —  when  they  set  these  miscreants 
like  w^ild  beasts  upon  me  —  never  in  any  way  have  I  abandoned 
my  affection  for  you.  From  the  very  beginning  I  chose  an  honest 
and  straightforward  course  in  politics,  to  support  the  honour,  the 
power,  the  glory  of  my  fatherland,  these  to  exalt,  in  these  to  have 
my  being.  I  do  not  walk  about  the  market-place  gay  and  cheerful 
because  the  stranger  has  prospered,  holding  out  my  right  hand  and 
congratulating  those  who  I  think  will  report  it  yonder,  and  on  any 
news  of  our  own  success  shudder  and  groan  and  stoop  to  the  earth, 
like  these  impious  men  who  rail  at  Athens,  as  if  in  so  doing  they 
did  not  rail  at  themselves  ;  who  look  abroad,  and  if  the  foreigner 
thrives  by  the  distresses  of  Greece,  are  thankful  for  it,  and  say  we 
should  keep  him  so  thriving  to  all  time. 

Never,  O  ye  Gods,  may  those  wishes  be  confirmed  by  you  !  If 
possible,  inspire  even  in  these  men  a  better  sense  and  feeling!  But 
if  they  are  indeed  incurable,  destroy  them  by  themselves  ;  exter- 
minate them  on  land  and  sea ;  and  for  the  rest  of  us,  grant  that 
we  may  speedily  be  released  from  our  present  fears,  and  enjoy  a 
lasting  deliverance ! 


622  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Contemporary  Sources:  Inscriptions;  Thucydides,  II,  99  (Early  Macedonia); 
Machines,  Against  Timarchus,  On  the  Embassy,  Against  Ctesiphon ;  Demos- 
thenes, Orations,  passim ;  Theopompus,  P>agments  (in  Ephorus)  ;  Isocrates, 
Orations,  especially  On  the  Peace,  Areopagiticus,  Philip,  Panathenaicus,  Letters ; 
Lycurgus,  Against  Leocrates  (in  Jebb,  Attic  Orators,  Vol.  II,  p.  378). 

Derivative  Sources:  Polybius,  V,  10  (Cha;ronea)  ;  Diodorus,  XV-XVI ;  Plu- 
tarch, Demosthenes,  Phocion;  Pseudo-Plutarch,  Lives  of  the  Ten  Orators,  Demos- 
thenes, /Eschines  ;  Justin,  VII-IX. 

Modern  Authorities:  Botsford,  History,  chap,  xv ;  Bury,  History,  chap,  xvi ; 
Holm,  History,  Vol.  Ill,  chaps,  xiv-xviii ;  Oman,  History,  chaps,  xli-xliii ;  All- 
croft,  Decline  of  Hellas,  chaps,  iii-vii ;  Curteis,  Rise  of  the  Macedonian  Empire, 
chaps,  i-vii;  Curtius,  History,  Vol.  V,  Bk.  VII;  Grote,  History,  Vol.  XI,  chaps. 
Ixxxvi-xc;  Hogarth,  Philip  and  Alexander  of  Macedon;  Butcher,  Demosthenes; 
B.  I.  Wheeler,  Alexander  the  Great. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


I.    LIST  OF  ANCIENT  SOURCES  AND  TRANSLATIONS 

(Where  no  name  is  given,  the  translation  has  been  made  by  the  editor.  Indication  is  given 
of  works  issued  in  the  Bohn  Library  or  reprinted  in  Everj'man's  Library.  Brief  quotations 
have  the  name  of  the  translator  after  the  passage  used.) 

/EscHlNES.    Against  Ctesiphon. 

.(^sciiYLUS.   Epigrams,  tr.  Mackail,  in  Select  Epigrams  from  the  Greek  Anthology. 
Longmans,  Green,  and  Co.,  London,  1890. 
The  Seven  Plays  in  English  Verse,  tr.  Campbell.  London,  1906.  (The  World's 
Classics.) 

Alc^us.    The  Songs  of  Alcaeus,  tr.  Easby-Smith.    Washington,  1901. 

Alcman.    Fragments. 

Anacreon.    Fragments. 

Andocides.    De  Mysteriis,  De  Pace. 

Archilochus.    Fragments. 

Arion.    Fragments. 

Aristoph.\nes.    Acharnians,  Knights,  Birds,  Frogs,  Peace,  tr.  Frere.    Basis  Mon- 
tagu Pickering,  London,  1874. 
Comedies   (Knights,  Wasps,    Peace,    Birds,   Lysistrata,   Thesmophoriazusae, 
Frogs,  Ecclesiazusae,  Plutus),  tr.  Rogers.    George  Bell  and  Sons,  London, 
1902-1911. 

Aristotle.    Constitution  of  Athens,  tr.  Dymes.    Seeley  and  Co.,  Limited,  Lon- 
don, 1891  (out  of  print). 
Politics,  tr.  Welldon.    Macmillan  and  Co.,  London,  18S8. 

Callinus.    Fragments. 

Carmin.\  Popularia. 

Demosthenes.    Orations,   tr.   Kennedy,    5  vols.    London,    1856-187 1.    (Bohn.) 
(Vol.  I  reprinted  in  Everyman's.) 

DiODORUs  SicuLUS.    Historical  Library,  tr.  Booth,  2  vols.    London,  18 14. 

Diogenes    Laertius.     Lives   of  the   Philosophers,   tr.    Vonge.     London,    1853. 
(Bohn.) 

EuPOLis.    Fragments,  in  Bury,  History  of  Greece,  and  Jebb,  Attic  Orators. 

Euripides.    Plays,    tr.    Murray,    2    vols.    Vol.     I,    Hippolytus,    Trojan    Women, 
Bacchae ;  Vol.  II,  Medea,  Iphigenia  in  Tauris,  Electra.    George  Allen  & 
Sons,  London,  1911. 
Ion,  tr.  Verrall.    Cambridge  University  Press,  1890. 

Tragedies  in  English  Verse,  tr.  Way,  3  vols.    Macmillan  and  Co.,  London, 
I 894- I 898. 

623 


624  READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 

Herodotus.     History,  tr.  Rawlinson,  4  vols.    London,   1858.     (Reprinted  in  2 
vols.,    Everyman's.) 

Hesiod.    Callimachus  and  Theognis.    Works,  tr.  Banks.    London,  1856.    (Bohn.) 

Homer.    Iliad,  tr.  Lang,  Leaf,  and  Myers.    Macmillan  and  Co.,  London,  1883. 
Odyssey,  tr.  Butcher  and  Lang.   Macmillan  and  Co.,  London  (revised  edition), 
1900. 

Lnscriptions. 

IsocRATES.    Orations,  tr.  Freese.    London,  1894.    (Bohn.) 

Lycurgus.    Against  Leocrates,  in  Jebb,  Attic  Orators. 

Mimnermus.    Fragments. 

Pausanias.    Description  of  Greece,  tr.  Frazer,  6  vols.    Macmillan  and  Co.,  Lon- 
don and  New  York,  1898. 

Pindar.    Odes,  tr.  Myers.    Macmillan  and  Co.,  London,  1899. 

Plato.    Dialogues,  tr.  Jowett,  5  vols.    3d  ed.,  Oxford  University  Press,  1892. 

Plutarch.    Lives,  tr.  Dryden-Clough,  3  vols.  Boston,  1864.  (Everyman's  Library.) 
Selected  Lives,  tr.  Perrin,  3  vols.   Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York,  1901- 
1912. 

PoLYBius.    Histories,  tr.  Schuckburgh,  2  vols.    Macmillan  and  Co.,  London,  1889. 

Simonides.    Poems,  chiefly  Epigrams. 

Skolion.    Harmodius  and  Aristogiton. 

Solon.    Fragments  (chiefly  quoted  in  Aristotle  or  Plutarch). 

Strabo.  Geography,  tr.  Hamilton  and  Falconer,  3  vols.  London,  1S54-1S57.  (Bohn.) 

Theognis.    Works,  tr.  Banks.    (See  Hesiod.) 

Thucvdides.    History  of  the   Peloponnesian  War,  tr.  Crawley,   2   vols.     1874. 
(Everyman's  Library.) 
History,  tr.  Jowett,  2  vols.    Oxford  University  Press,  1881. 

Tyrt^us.    Works,  tr.  Banks,  in  Idylls  of  Theocritus,  etc.    London,  1864.   (Bohn.) 

Xenophon.    Works,  tr.  Dakyns,  3  vols.    Macmillan  and  Co.,  London,  1890-1897. 

II.  SELECT  LIST  OF  MODERN  WORKS 

Abbott,  Evelyn,  Editor.    Hellenica :  a  collection  of  essays.    London,  1880. 

History  of  Greece,  3  vols.    New  York,  18S8-1899. 

Pericles  and  the  Golden  Age  of  Athens.    New  York,  1S91.    (Heroes  of  the 
Nations.) 
ALLlNSON,.F.G.and  A.  C.E.,Greek  Lands  and  Letters.  Boston  and  New  York, 1909. 
Baikie,  James.    The  Sea  Kings  of  Crete.    London,  1910. 
Beloch,  Julius.    Griechische  Geschichte,  2  vols.    Strassburg,  1893-1897. 
Bergk,  Theodor,  Editor.  Poetae  Lyrici  Graeci,  3  vols.  4th  ed.,  Leipzig,  1878-1882. 
BoTSFORD,  George  Willis.   Development  of  the  Athenian  Constitution.   Boston, 
1893.    (Cornell  Studies  in  Classical  Philology,  No.  4.) 

History  of  Greece.    New  York,  1899. 
Bromine,  Henry.    Handbook  of  Homeric  Study.    2d  ed.,  London,  1908. 
Burrows,  Ronald  M.   The  Discoveries  in  Crete.    London,  1907. 

"  Pylos  and   Sphacteria,"   \xv  Journal  of  Hellenic  Studies,   1896,  pp.  55-76; 
1898,  pp.  147-159- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  625 

Bury,   John   Bagnall.     The   Ancient   Greek    Historians.     New   York,    1909. 
(Harvard  Lectures.) 
"  The  European  Expedition  of  Darius,"  in  Classical  Review,  1897,  pp.  277-282. 
History  of  Greece,  London,  1896. 
BusoLT,  Georg.    Griechische  Geschichte  bis  zur  Schlacht  bei  Cha?roneia.   Vols. 

I-III  (Pts.  I,  II),    Gotha,  1893-1904. 
Butcher,  Samuel  Henry.    Demosthenes.    London,  1893.    (Classical  Writers.) 
Harvard  Lectures  on  Greek  Subjects.    London,  1904. 
Some  Aspects  of  the  Greek  Genius.    London,  1893. 
Cornford,  Francis  Macdonald.   Thucydides  Mythistoricus.    London,  1907. 
Cox,  Sir  George  William.    A  General  History  of  Greece.    New  York,  1886. 
The  Greeks  and  the  Persians.  New  York,  1876.  (Epochs  of  Ancient  History.) 
Lives  of  Greek  Statesmen,  2  vols.    New  York,  1885-1886. 
Croiset,  Maurice.    Aristophanes  and  the  Political  Parties  at  Athens,  tr.  James 

Loeb.    London,  1909. 
Cunningham,  W^illiam.    Essay  on  Western  Civilization  in  its  Economic  Aspect, 

2  vols.    Cambridge,  1898-1900. 
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Harrison,  J.  E.,  and  Verrall,  Margaret  de  G.    The  Mythology  and  Monu- 
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INDEX 


Abdera,  70 

Abusimbel,  inscription  from,  37-38 

Abydos,  179,  447 

Academy,  259 

Achsea,  364-365  ;  in  quintuple  alliance, 
500,  503-504 

Achseans  (Homeric),  assemblies  of,  3; 
warfare  of,  5 

Acharnas,  322 

Acharnians,  323-326 

Achilles,  3,  5 ;  shield  of,  24-27 

Acragas,  35;  under  Theron,  232 

Acropolis  of  Athens,  house  of  Erech- 
theus  on,  21  ;  seizure  of,  by  Pisistra- 
tus,  128,  131  ;  seizure  of,  by  Cylon, 
138;  wooden  walls  of,  187;  capture 
of,  by  Persians,  202-204 ;  under 
Cimon,  259  ;  under  Pericles,  275-2S0 

Adimantus,  epitaph  of,  237 

^gean,  early  naval  control  in,  69 

^gina,  warof,  against  Athens,  143-145, 
in  battle  of  Salamis,  209 ;  conquest 
of,  by  Athens,  267-268 

TEgospotami,  battle  of,  446-449  ;  treaty 
after,  449-450 

y^schines,  597-602 ;  rivalry  of,  with 
Demosthenes,  611-621 

ylischylus,  epitaph  of,  175 

/Esymnetes,  65 

Action,  76-78 

Agarista,  daughter  of  Cleisthenes,  So- 
82 

Agariste,  mother  of  Pericles,  268 

Agesilaus,  470-471,  476-479,  488,  491- 
492 

Agis,  418-421 

Aglauros,  601 

Agoratus,  461 

Alcseus,  71-75 

Alcibiades,  in  battle  of  Potidea,  310; 
forms  Argive  alliance,  363-364  ;  gen- 
eral for  Sicily,  378-386,  398-399 ; 
implicated  in  burlesque  of  the  myste- 
ries, 388-394;  joins  Spartans,  418; 
negotiations  of,  with  Tissaphernes, 
422-425  ;  returns  to  Athens,  424-427 ; 
character  of,  428-429  ;  advice  of,  be- 
fore battle  of  .'Egospotami,  448 


Alcmjeonida;,  82.  137-140,  173 

Alexander,  son  of  Philip,  at  Chaeronea, 
567,  608-609,  618 

Alyattcs,  149 

Amasis,  37,  152 

Amnesty,  after  the  Thirty,  456-458 

Amphictyons,  build  temple  at  Delphi, 
58,  60  ;  war  of,  on  C'irrhaeans,  83.  See 
also  Sacred  war 

Amphipolis,  foundation  of,  350;  siege 
and  capture  of,  by  Brasidas,  350-356; 
proposed  restoration  of,  to  Athens, 
357  ;  captured  by  Philip,  563;  Athe- 
nian supporters  banished  from,  586, 
607 

Amphissa,  576,  617 

Amycte,  temple  of  Apollo  at,  358-359 

Amyntas,  475,  559-561 

Anacreon,  69-70,  134 

Andocides,  38S-394,  51 7-5 '9 

Antalcidas,  peace  of,  490 

Antimenidas,  brother  of  Alcasus,  71,  74 

Antiphon,  430-432,  436 

Apella,  99-100 

Aphrodite,  23S,  397 

Apollo,  temple  of,  at  Marseilles,  33 ; 
altar  of,  at  Naxos  in  Sicily,  34  ;  temple 
of,  at  Naucratis,  38 ;  temple  of,  at 
Branchidas,  53  ;  temple  of,  at  Delos, 
53-55;  temple  of,  at  Delphi,  55-60; 
victories  of,  at  Olympia,  61  ;  altar  of, 
at  Athens,  135  ;  temple  of,  at  Didyma, 
161-162  ;  temple  of,  at  Amyclae,  358- 
359;  temple  of,  at  Argos,  365 

Arcadia,  wars  of,  with  Sparta,  91,  93, 
95-96;  league  of,  495-496;  in  quin- 
tuple alliance,  500,  503-504 ;  at  time 
of  Philip,  597.  See  also  Mantinea, 
Megalopolis,  Orchomenus,  Tegea 

Arcesilas,  39-40  , 

Archelaus,  560 

Archias,  68 

Archidamus  II,  king  of   Sparta,  312- 

313-  322 

Archilochus,  45-46 

Archons  (Athenian),  institution  and 
functions  of,  116;  under  Solon,  123- 
124;    under    Cleisthenes,    141-142; 


629 


630 


READINGS   IN  GREEK  HISTORY 


under  Pericles,  291-292;  in  fourth 
century,  539-541 

Ardys,  43-45 

Areopagus,  council  of,  11 7-1 19,  24S, 
288-291  ;  court  of,  289-290,  539 

Arginusas,  battle  of,  441-443;  condem- 
nation of  generals  after,  443-446 

Argives  (Homeric),  3,  6 

Argos,  under  Pheidon,  87-89 ;  wars  of, 
with  Sparta,  88,  91,  94-95;  alliance 
of,  with  Athens,  363-365  ;  in  Corin- 
thian war,  482-484,  496 

Aristagoras,  155-158 

Aristeus,  309 

Aristides,  173,  206,  210,  248-250,  615 

Aristion,  127 

Aristogiton,  134-136 

Aristophanes,  son  of  Nicophemus,  513- 

514 

Artaphernes,  165,  1S3 

Artemis,  temple  of,  at  Marseilles,  23  ! 
temple  of,  at  Artemisium,  191,  201  ; 
temple  of,  at  Astyra,  477 

Artemisia  of  Halicarnassus,  1S1-182, 
20S-209 

Artemisium,  battle  of,  190-191, 197-198, 
200-201 

Asia  Minor,  colonies  of,  29 

Assembly  (Homeric),  3,  8 

Athens,  early  history  and  constitution 
of,  113-117;  war  of,  against  Eleusis, 
114;  under  Draco,  118-119;  under 
Solon,  1 19-125;  wars  of,  against 
Eleusis  and  Salamis,  126;  under 
the  Pisistratidas,  127-137;  at  time 
of  Cleisthenes,  140-142;  wars  of, 
against  Chalcis  and  Boeotia,  142-143  ; 
war  of,  against /Egina,  143-145  ;  con- 
nection of,  with  Ionian  revolt,  157- 
162;  in  Persian  wars,  164-165,  16S- 
176,  185-191,  197-218,  226-227,  229; 
in  Delian  Confederacy,  242,  246-250; 
rebuilt  after  Persian  wars,  243-246; 
empire  of,  established,  249,  252-255  ; 
under  Cimon,  255-263;  alliance  of, 
with  Argos,  263-266  ;  in  war  against 
Sparta,  264-266 ;  alliance  of,  with 
Megara,  265;  jinder  Pericles,  268- 
302  ;  in  Peloponnesian  war,  304-332, 
340-363,  376-387.  395-415;  alliance 
of,  with  Corcyra,  306 ;  alliance  of, 
with  Sparta  after  Peace  of  Nicias, 
359 ;  alliance  of,  with  Argos,  Man- 
tinea,  and  Elis,  363-367  ;  under  the 
Four  Hundred,  432-437  ;  under  the 
Thirty,  450-465;  after  the  amnesty, 
456-458 ;    alliance  of,  with  Thebes, 


479-4S1  ;  in  quintuple  alliance,  500, 
503-504 ;  revival  of,  in  fourth  cen- 
tury, 507-557 ;  alliance  of,  with 
Samos,  507-510;  second  confed- 
eracy of,  522-531  ;  alliance  of,  with 
Chalcis,  524;  alliance  of,  with  Clazo- 
menae,  525;  alliance  of,  with  Chios, 
525-526;  alliance  of,  with  Corcyra, 
526-528  ;  alliance  of,  with  Dionysius, 
530-531  ;  constitution  of,  in  fourth 
century,  532-541  ;  struggle  of,  against 
Philip,  565-621  ;  alliance  of,  with 
Thebes,  602-607  ;  defeat  of,  at  Chas- 
ronea,  608-61 i 

Athena,  3,  7,  9,  1 1-14,  21  ;  temple  of,  at 
Sigeum,  75-76;  temple  of,  at  Tegea, 
95;  temple  of,  at  Sparta,  99;  guardian 
of  Athens,  120;  contest  of,  with  Posei^ 
don,  246;  Hygeia  (Health),  278;  at 
court  of  Areopagus,  2S9-290 ;  Nike, 
279;  Pylaemachus,  349;  Polias,  503; 
statue  of,  by  Phidias,  614 

Athos,  164,  166 

Atossa,  173-174,  211-212,  214-215 

Atrestidas,  601-602 

Attica,  continuous  occupation  of,  113; 
union  of,  under  Theseus,  113-114; 
colonies  of,  sent  to  Ionia,  114;  polit- 
ical parties  of,  under  Pisistratus,  130— 
131  ;  conditions  in,  before  the  Pelo- 
ponnesian war,  318-321  ;  Spartan 
invasion  of,  321-326 

Axius,  560 

Aziris,  40 

Bacchiadae,  the,  37,  76-77 

Bacchylides,  233 

Banquets  (Homeric),  6,  10,  16 

Battus  I  and  Battus  II,  39-41 

Boeotarchs,  6r4 

Boeotians,  defeat  of,  by  Athenians,  142- 
143  ;  alliance  of,  with  Athenians,  481 ; 
in  Corinthian  war,  482-484 ;  domi- 
neering policy  of  Thebes  toward, 
490-492  ;  friendship  of,  with  Atheni- 
ans, 517,  566,  577 

Bottiseans,  560-561 

Branchidas,  52-53,  59 

Brasidas,  350-356,  359 

Brea,  charter  of,  274-275 

Byzantium,  31,  51 5,  523, 591,  593, 608,619 

Cadmea  (Thebes),  487-489,  618 
Callias,  Peace  of  (448  B.C.),  259;  (371 

B.C.),  492 

Callicrates,  architect,  277-279 
CalUcratidas,  441-443 


INDEX 


Callimachus,  polemarch,  170-172 

Callinus,  44-45 

Callixenus,  445-446 

Camarina,  36,  231-232,  410 

Cambyses,  67,  152-153 

Cannonus,  decree  of,  445 

Caria,  ally  of  Athens,  250 

Carthage,  231-234,  3S4,  386 

Carystus,  247 

Casmenae,  35,  231 

Catana,  34,  399,  405.  4io,  413 

Cecrops,  1 14 

Cephallenia,  524 

Cephalus,  father  of  Lysias,  462 

Cephisophon,  509 

Cersobleptes,  5SS 

Chasronea,  battle  of,  566-56S,  602,  608- 
611 

Chalcedon,  31 

Chalcidice,  cities  of,  379,  529,  560-561, 
563-564.  5S4-5S6,  592 

Chalcis  (Euboea),  colonies  of,  31  ;  de- 
feat of,  by  Athens,  142-143;  consti- 
tution of  (446  K.c),  after  reduction  by 
Athens,  270-272 ;  alliance  of,  with 
Athens  (377  B.C.),  524 

Chares,  Athenian  general,  566-567 

Chares,  of  Teichioussa,  53 

Chersonese,  under  Miltiades,  131-133; 
under  Cimon,  273  ;  cleruchies  in,  273, 
51S;  in  time  of  Philip,  5S0,  583-5S4, 
587-589,  591,  593,  619 

Chios,  51,  162,  225,  525-526 

Cimmerians,  43-44 

Cimon,  early  victories  of,  247 ;  con- 
quests of,  255-259;  public  works  of, 
259-261  ;  ostracism  of,  261-262 ; 
death  of,  in  Cyprus,  262-263 

Cirrha,  83 

Cities  (Homeric),  19-20,  24 

Citium,  262-263 

Clazomenae,  43,  51,  525 

Cleisthenes  of  Athens,  140-142 

Cleisthenes  of  Sicyon,  80-82 

Cleombrotus,  494 

Cleomenes,  155-157 

Cleon,  unpopularity  of,  323;  democratic 
leader,  327-328 ;  Aristophanes  on, 
328-332 ;  cruel  policy  of,  to  Mity- 
leneans,  335-337,  339 ;  general  at 
Pylos,  345-349;  at  Amphipolis,  353  ; 
death  of,   354;    head  of  war  party, 

356,  359 
Cleophon,  327 
Cleruchies,    in    Chersonese    and    the 

Euxine,  272-275  ;  in  Lesbos,  339  ;    in 

Melos,  373 


Cnidus,  battle  of,  510-51 1 

Cnossus,  sea  power  of,  69 

Codridas,  1 16 

Coinage,  of  Pheidon,  88,  125  ;  of  Solon, 
121,  125;  under  Darius,  153-154 

Colonization,  29-47,  272-275.  See  also 
Cleruchies 

Colonnade,  of  Zeus  of  Freedom,  523 ; 
of  the  Hermae,  615;  Painted,  616 

Colophon,  43-44,  51 

Commerce,  in  Solon's  time,  119 

Conon,  443,  448-449-  510-513 

Corcyra,  41-42,  79;  quarrel  of,  with 
Corinth,  304-307  ;  alliances  of,  with 
Athens,  306,  526-528,  576 

Corinth,  founder  of  Syracuse,  34  ;  com- 
mercial advantages  of,  36 ;  relations 
of,  with  Corcyra,  41-42  ;  naval  power 
of,  46;  under  the  Bacchiadse,  76; 
under  the  Cypselidae,  77-79;  friend 
of  Athens,  144-145  ;  quarrel  of,  with 
Corcyra,  304-307  ;  quarrel  of,  with 
Athens,  308-311  ;  battle  of,  482-484, 
576 

Coronea,  battle  of,  4S4 

Corroebus,  531 

Council  (Athenian),  under  Draco,  118; 
under  Solon,  124;  in  fourth  century, 

534-537 
Cratinus,  278 
Crissa.    See  Cirrha 
Critias,  453-45^ 
Critius,  526 

Croesus,  58-59,  72,  1 49-1 51 
Croton,  32-33 

Ctesiphon,  decree  of,  612,  61S 
Cumas  (in  Italy),  31-32  ;  battle  of,  233- 

234 
Cybele,  temple  of,  at  Sardis,  i  59 
Cylon,  13S-140 
Cyprus,   156;  at  time  of  Cimon,  257- 

259,  261-263;  under  Elvagoras,  513- 

514 

Cypselidas,  66,  78-79 

Cypselus,  77-78 

Cyrene,  38-41 

Cyrus,  conqueror  of  Asia,  147-14S;  con- 
queror of  Croesus,  1 51-152 

Cythera,  capture  of,  by  Conon,  512 

Cyzicus,  30 

Dactyls  (or  Curetes),  60 

Darius,  establishes  satrapies,  153;  letter 
of,  to  satrap,  154;  Ionian  revolt  against, 
1 54-163  ;  invasion  of  Greece  by,  163- 
164;  plans  second  invasion,  177; 
death  of,  178 


632 


READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 


Datis,  165,  170-173,  179 

Decelea;  418-421 

Delium,  battle  of,  310,  355 

Delos,  53-54.  166-167,  223,  247,  250, 
252,  333-334 

Delphi,  55-60,  132,  138,  150-152,  185- 
187,  194,  221,  234,  255,  282-284,  496, 
562 

Demades,  56S 

Demaratus,  37 

Demeter,  temple  of,  at  Platea,  220,  224; 
temple  of,  at  Mycale,  224 

Demosthenes  (general),  at  Pylos,  341- 
347  ;  in  Sicily,  401  ;  leads  retreat  of 
Athenians,  409-415 

Demosthenes  (orator),  defender  of 
Greece,  '564;  forms  alliance  with 
Thebes,  565-566 ;  early  career  of, 
574;  estimate  of,  by  Plutarch,  574- 
575;  aggressive  policy  of,  against 
Philip,  576-596;  "On  the  Embassy," 
597-602 ;  decree  of,  against  Philip, 
605-607  ;  delivers  oration  after  Chae- 
ronea,  609-610,  612-613;  attacked 
by  /Eschines,  611-618;  defends  his 
policy,  618-621 

Dexileus,  484-485 

Dicaearchia,  32 

Dicseopolis,  323-326 

Didyma,  161 

Dioclides,  392-394 

Diodotus,  speech  of,  on  Mitylene,  33S- 

339 
Dionysius  I  of  Syracuse,  475,  513,  529- 

.531 
Dionysus,  shrine    in   temple    of,    333 ; 

gateway  of,  392 
Diotimus,  306,  308 
Dodona,  55 
Dolonci,  132 

Dorian  tribes  of  Sicyon,  82 
Doriscus,  607 
Draco,    constitution    under,    118-119; 

laws  of,  118,  123 

Echetlaeus,  176 

Edonians,  560 

Education  (Spartan),  106-110 

Eetionia,  433,  453 

Egesta,  377-378 

Egypt,  37,  60,  62-63,  119,  152-153,  272 

Eion,  247,  351-352 

Elatea,  565,  602-604 

Eleusis,  114,  126,  457 

Eleven,  the,  455,  538 

Elis,  89-90,  480,  4S2,  500,  503-504,  592 

Epaminondas,  founder  of  Megalopolis 


and  Messene,  496-498 ;  in  battle  of 
Mantinea,  499-502  ;  career  and  influ- 
ence of,  504-506 ;  death  and  statues 
of,  505 

Ephebi  (at  Athens),  533-534 

Ephesus,  43,  51,  59-60 

Ephialtes,  288 

Ephors,  98,  loo-ioi 

Epicydidas,  476-477 

Epidamnus,  41-42 

Epipolae,  404 

Epiteles,  497 

Eratosthenes,  462-465 

Erechtheus,  21,  126,  310 

Eretria,  31,  128-129,  158,  168,  271,  436, 
523,  593,  608 

Ergocles,  514-517 

Erythras  (Ionia),  constitution  of,  254- 
255  ;  decree  of,  honoring  Cimon,  513 

Euboea,  31,  45,  270-272,  436,  576,  584, 
592,  608,  617,  619 

Eubulus,  601,  608 

Euclides,  457 

Eumachus  the  Samian,  509 

Eupalinus  of  Megara,  engineer,  68 

Eurybiades,  197,  204,  229 

Eurymedon,  Athenian  general,  340,  401 

Eurymedon  (river),  battle  of,  257-259 

Euxine,  29,  273 

Evagoras,  513-514 

Four  Hundred,  the,  421,  432-437 

Gadatas,  154 

Gela,  35,  175,  231-232,  410 

Gelon,  67,  231-235 

Gerusia  (Spartan  senate),  99-100 

Grylus,  505 

Gyges,  43,  45 

Gylippus,  400,  412-413 

Gytheum,  425 

Hadrian,  Arch  of,  at  Athens,  115 

Hagnon,  350 

Haliartus,  471-473 

Halicarnassus,  182,  516-517 

Halonnesus,  607 

Hamilcar,  232 

Harmodius,  134-136 

Helen  (Homeric),  3,  4,  17-18 

Hellenium  at  Naucratis,  37 

Hellenotamiae,  247,  509 

Hellespont,  bridge  of  Xerxes  over,  178- 

179,  183-184;  Philip's  activity  at,  564 
Helots,  96,  106;  revolts  of,  262,  347 
Hephasstus,  6,  24 ;  temple  of,  at  Athens, 

392 


INDEX 


633 


Hera, temple  of,  at  Naucratis,  38 ;  temple 

of,  at  Samos,  69 
Heraeans,  treaty  of,  with  Eleans,  89-90 
Heraeum  at  Platea,  219 
Hermae,  erected  after  battle  of  Strymon, 

256,  615-616;  mutilation  of,  388,  391- 

394 
Hieron,  67,  233-235 
Himera,  35,  232 
Hippagretse,  108 
Hipparchus,  134-136 
Hippias,  134-137.  157.  165 
Hippoclides,  81 
Histiaea,  270 
Hybla,  231 
Hyperides,  575 

Ictinus,  277 
Imbros,  518 
Ionia,  51-52;  revolt  of,  148-149,  154- 

157.  225 
Iphicrates,  581 
Ismenias,  488-489 
Isocrates,  519-521,  569-573 
Italy,  31-33,  272-273 
Ithome,  91,  265,  497-498 

King  (at  Athens),  116 

Kings  (at  Sparta),  98,  101-104 

"King's  Peace,"  490-491,  526,  530 

Labda,  mother  of  Cypselus,  77-78 

Lacedasmon.    See  Sparta 

Lacedasmonius,  son  of  Cimon,  306-308 

Laches,  364,  376-377 

Lamachus,  378,  385,  389,  39S-399 

Laurium,  188-189,  392 

Law  courts  of  Athens,   123-125,   292- 

293.  54i 
Lemnos,  518,  5S2 
Leonidas,  192-196 
Leontiades,  488-489 
Leontini,  34,  377,  3S3,  397-39''^>  4oo 
Leotychides,  242 
Lesbos,     162;    in    league    of    Athens 

(480   B.C.),    225,    251,   441.     See   also 

Mitylene 
Leuctra,  battle  of,  493-495 
Libya,  colonies  in,  3S-41 
Lychnitis,  562 
Lycurgus,  Athenian,  leader  of  the  Plain, 

131 

Lycurgus,     Spartan     lawgiver,    98-99, 

105-1 12 
Lydia,  under  Gyges,  43-45  ;  conquered 

by  Persia,  148-152 
Lygdamis  of  Naxos,  129 


Lysander,  447-449.  467-473 
Lysias,  458-465 
Lysicles,  566 

Macedon,  529;  early  conditions  in,  559- 
561 ;  rise  under  Philip,  561-569,  576- 
621 

Mantinea,  ally  of  Athens,  363-365  ;  de- 
stroyed by  Sparta,  486-487 ;  battle 
of,  499-50- 

Mantitheus,  senator,  393 

Mantitheus,  soldier,  484 

Marathon,  battle  of,  168-177,  616 

Mardonius,  163-164,  178,  219-220 

Massilia,  33-34 

Mecyberna,  564 

Media,  part  of  Persian  empire,  147 

Megacles,  son  of  Alcma;on,  82  ;  leader 
of  the  coast,  130 

Megacles,  son  of  Hippocrates,  ostra- 
cism of,  142 

Megalopolis,  495-496 

Megara,  34,  79-80;  revolution  in,  83-86; 
war  of,  with  Athens,  126-127;  ex- 
cluded from  Athenian  markets,  307, 
315,  325-326 

Megara  (Hyblaean),  35 

Megistias,  193-196,  236 

Melos,  conquest  of,  by  Athens,  367-375 

Menelaus,  Homeric  king,  15-19 

Menelaus  the  Pelagonian,  529 

Messene,  refounded  by  Thebes,  497-499 

Messenia,  conquest  of,  by  Sparta,  90-93 

Messenians,  invasion  of  Laconiaby,  347 ; 
dedications  of,  at  Olympia,  349-350 

Messina,  35 

Methone,  358,  578,  584-585,  592 

Metics,  treatment  of,  under  the  Thirty, 
462-465 

Midas,  43- 

Miletus,  29-30,  51-53,  148,  161-162 

Milo  of  Croton,  t,t, 

Miltiades  the  elder,  activity  of,  in  Cher- 
sonese, 131-133 

Miltiades  the  younger,  133, 155;  at  Mara- 
thon, 169-171,  175-176,  601,615-616 

Minos  the  Cretan,  56 ;  sea  empire  of,  69 

Mitylene,  70-74 ;  revolt  of,  against 
Athens,  335-339;  cleruchies  in,  339- 
340 ;  in  second  Athenian  confeder- 
acy, 523 

Mnesicles,  architect,  278 

Munychia,  capture  of,  456-457 

Mycale,  battle  of,  223-225 

Myceneans  in  battle  of  Thermopylae,  192 

Myrsilus,  71,  73 

Mysteries,  burlesque  of,  388-391 


634 


READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 


Naples,  32 

Naucrariae,  124 

Naucratis,  37-38 

Naupactus,  Messenians  at,  265 

Nausicaa,  19-21 

Naxos,  166,  247,  273 

Naxos  in  Sicily,  34 

Nicias,  aristocratic  leader,  327  ;  charac- 
ter of,  332-335,  415  ;  early  successes 
of>  33--JJ3  ;  peace  of,  357-363  ;  op- 
poses Sicilian  expedition,  378-380, 
383-384,  386-387  ;  general  in  Sicily, 
398,  400,  404,  409-415 

Nicomachus,  458-461 

Notium,  509 

Odysseus,  3,  8-9,  12,  19-23 

Olympia,  festival  at,  60-63 ;  wars  of, 
against  Pheidon  and  Pisa,  87-89 ; 
dedications  of  Syracusan  tyrants  at, 
234-235 ;  temple  and  statue  of  Zeus 
at,  266 ;  victory  of  Paeonius  at,  266, 

349-350 
Olynthus,  358,  563-564,  584-586,  5S9- 

590,  592,  599-602 
Oracle,  at  Dodona,  55  ;  at  Delphi,  55-58 
Orchomenus  (Arcadian),  93,  192,  222 
Orchomenus  (Boeotian),  482,  490,  493, 

517 
Orripus,  Megarian  hero,  80 
Orthagoras,  tyrant  of  Sicyon,  66 
Ostracism,  140-142 

Paches,  335-339 

Paeonia,  560,  562 

P^onius  of  Mende,  349-350 

Pagasae,  584-585 

Palace  (Homeric),  15-23 

Pallene,  31,  129 

Pan,  169 

Panactum,  358 

Panathenaea,  254,  274,  278 

Pang^us  (Mt.),  560 

Pan-Hellenic  unity,  advocates  of,  519- 

521 
Panionium,  51-52 
Pa7-alus,  448-449 
Paros,  425 

Pausanias  (Spartan  king),  467,  471-473 
Pausanias  (Spartan  regent),  219-221 
Peace  of  Nicias,  357-363 
Peace  of  391-390  B.C.,  517-519 
Pelasgians,  at  Dodona,  55;  in  Attica,  114 
Pelasgicon,  occupation  of,  in  Pelopon- 

nesian  war,  319 
Pellene,  483 
Pelopidas,  504-506 


Peloponnesians  build  w^all  on  Isthmus, 
199,  202 

Penelope,  1 1-15 

Pentacosiomedimni,  118,  123,  282,  292 

Peparethus,  607 

Perdiccas  I,  352,  559-560 

Periander  of  Corinth,  66,  71,  76,  78-79 

Pericles,  rise  of,  26S-269,  288-292 ; 
democratic  tendencies  of,  269;  re- 
duction of  Euboea  by,  270-272;  col- 
onizing policy  of,  272-275;  public 
works  of,  275-280;  naval  and  impe- 
rial policy  of,  280-285,  315-318,  385; 
character  of,  286-2S9 ;  constitution  of 
Athens  under,  291-293;  oratorical 
gifts  of,  293-294;  funeral  oration  (his 
ideal  for  Athens),  294-302  ;  in  Pelo- 
ponnesian  war,  314-318;  blamed  for 
war,  325-326;  death  and  successors 
of,  327-328 

Persia,  rise  to  power  of,  1 47-1 54;  Ionian 
revolt  against,  154-163;  expedition 
of,  against  Greece,  163-168;  defeat  of, 
at  Marathon,  1 68-1 76 ;  war  of,  against 
Greece  under  Xerxes,  177-221 

Phasacians,  19-23 

Pharnabazus,  510-512 

Pheidon  of  Argos,  87-89 

Pherae,  585,  590 

Phidias,  266,  27S-279 

Phidippides,  169-170 

Philip  II  of  Macedon,  496,  499;  sum- 
mary of  his  deeds,  561-562 ;  suc- 
cess in  the  north,  562-565 ;  activity  of, 
against  Athens,  565-568;  plans  inva- 
sion of  Asia,  568-573  ;  Demosthenes 
on,  578-593 ;  conquers  Phocians, 
562,  577,  588-589,  591,  593;  aggres- 
sive policy  of,  607-608 ;  death  of, 
613  ;  habit  of  bribery,  618 

Philippi,  563 

Philocrates,  peace  of,  598-599,  602 

Phliusinquintuplealliance,  500,  503-504 

Phocasa,  33-34,  51 

Phocis,  499,  562,  577,  5S8-i;92,  613 

Phoebidas,  48S-489 

Phoros,  250-252.    See  also  Tribute  Lists 

Phrygia  under  Midas,  43 

Phrynichus,  Athenian  oligarch,  430-431, 

433'  437-441 
Phrynichus,  tragedian,  162 
Phyle  (fort),  452,  456,  616-617 
Pierians,  560 

Pindar  on  the  value  of  music,  109 
Piraeus,  fortification  of,  245-246 ;  mer- 
cantile population  of,  319-321  ;    de- 
struction   of   walls    by    Sparta,  450 ; 


INDEX 


635 


seizure    of,    by    Thrasybulus,    456  ; 

clerks    of   the    market  in,    537-538 ; 

generals  commanding,  540 
Pisa,  89 
Pisander,  391-392,  425,  430-431.  433' 

436 
Pisistratidae,  133-137 
Pisistratus,  tyranny  of,  1 27-1 31 
Piso,  Athenian  oligarch,  462-465 
Pittacus,  71-72,  74 

Platea,  ally  of  Athens  in  battle  of  Mara- 
thon, 170-172;  battle  of,  219-223;  in 

Athenian  confederacy,  250 
P.leistoanax,  356-359 
Polemarchus,  brother  of  Lysias,  464- 

465 
Polycrates  of  Samos,  67-69 
Polyzalus,  234 
Poseidon,  precinct  of,  in  Phaeacia,  20; 

precinct   of,   at   the    Panionium,   52  ; 

contest  of,  with  Athena,  246 
Poses,  the  Samian,  509-510 
Potidea,  revolt  of,  308-31 1  ;  capture  of, 

by  Philip,  563,  607 
Priene,  51 

Propontis,  colonies  in,  29 
Propylaea  at  Athens,  building  of,  278- 

279 
Proteas,  306,  308 
Psammetichus  II,  38 
Psammetichus  III,  152-153 
Psammetichus,  tyrant  of  Corinth,  66 
Psyttalea,  206,  210 
Pteleum,  358 
Pulytion,  389 
Pydna,  563,  607 

Pylos,  siege  and  capture  of,  340-349 
Pythagoras,  33,  70 
Pythian  games,  60,  592 
Pythodorus,  434 
Python,  566 

Rating  of  Athenian  citizens,  in  three 
classes,  118;  in  four  classes,  123 

Rhegium,  397 

Rhenea,  54 

Rhetra  of  Lycurgus,  99 

Rhodes  in  second  Athenian  confeder- 
acy, 523 

Rhoecus,  Samian  architect,  69 

Salaminia,  the,  422 

Salamis,  conquered  by  Athens,  126- 
127;  Greek  fleet  at,  199;  Athenian 
migration  to,  200;  battle  of,  204-218 

Samos,  under  Polycrates,  67-70 ;  in 
Delian    confederacy,    225 ;     ally    of 


Athens,  421-422;  base  of  Athenian 
operations,  427,  446;  alliance  of, 
with  Athens,  507-510 

Sappho,  71 

Sardis,  capture  of,  by  Persia,  151  ; 
burning  of,  in  Ionian  revolt,  158-159 

Scyros,  247,  518 

Sea  power  in  /Kgean,  69 

Seisachthea,  1 21-122 

Selinus,  35,  378,  383,  398 

Serrium,  607 

Sestos,  243,  448 

Sicily,  colonies  in,  34-36 ;  in  early  fifth 
century,  231-235;  Athenian  relations 
with,  376-377  ;  expedition  against,  by 
Athens,  377-2^7,  395-415 

Sicinnus,  205 

Sicyon  under  Cleisthenes,  80-82 

Sigeum,  capture  of,  by  Athens,  74-76; 
under  Ilippias,  137 

Simonides,  134 

Simylon,  epitaph  of,  527 

Sinope,  30,  273 

Smyrna,  43-44.  5^5 

Socrates,  310 

Solon,  1 19-127 

Sophocles,  Athenian  general,  340 

Sparta,  early  rivalry  with  Argos,  87-88  ; 
Messenian  wars  of,  90-93 ;  wars  of, 
against  Argos  and  Tegea,  94-96; 
constitution  of,  96-1 1 2  ;  declines  part 
in  Ionian  revolt,  154-157  ;  arrives  too 
late  for  Marathon,  170;  defense  of 
Thermopylae  by,  190-197 ;  in  com- 
mand at  Artemisium,  197  ;  in  battle 
of  Platea,  219-223 ;  leadership  in  Per- 
sian wars,  241-242;  opposes  building 
of  Athenian  walls,  243-245 ;  Helot 
revolt  against,  262-265 ;  conservatism 
of,  311-314;  invasion  of  Attica  by, 
32 1-326;  at  Pylos,  340-350;  in  Thrace, 
350-356;  shares  in  Peace  of  Nicias, 
357-363;  triple  alliance  against,  363- 
367  ;  capture  of  Decelea,  418-421 ;  in 
battle  of  Arginusse,  44 1  -443 ;  in  battle 
of  /Egospotami,  446-449 ;  treaty  of, 
with  Athens,  449-450;  supremacy  of, 
in  fourth  century,  467-492;  defeat  of, 
at  Leuctra,  493-495 ;  Theban  activity 
against,  495-499 ;  in  battle  of  Manti- 
nea,  499-502 ;  friendly  relations  of, 
with  Athens,  531 

Sphacteria.    See  Pylos 

Sphodrias,  494 

Stratocles,  584,  586 

Susa,  183,  210-21 1 

Sybaris,  32-33,  273 


636 


READINGS  IN   GREEK  HISTORY 


Syloson  of  Samos,  67,  69 

Synoecia,  114 

Syracuse,  34 ;  under  Gelon  and  Hi- 
eron,  231-235  ;  Athenian  expedition 
against,  376-387,  395-415;  attack  on, 
399-404  ;  naval  victory  of,  405-408  ; 
under  Uionysius  I,  529-531 

Tanagra,  262,  266 

Tegea,  war  of,  against  Sparta,  95-96 ; 
in  battle  of  Platea,  219-223  ;  epitaphs 
on  battle  of  Tegea,  239 ;  in  battle 
of  Corinth,  483 ;  shares  in  founding 
Megalopolis,  496 

Telemachus,  8-19 

Ten  Thousand  (Persian  Immortals), 
180-181 

Tenedos,  162,  619 

Teos,  51,  70 

Terillus,  232 

Terpander,  log 

Thapsus  (Sicilian),  35 

Thasos,  45,  163,  351,  524,  582 

Thebes,  suspected  of  Medism,  192  ;  in 
battle  of  Thermopylae,  192-195;  in 
battle  of  Haliartus,  471-473;  alliance 
of,  with  Athens  against  Sparta,  479- 
484  ;  domineering  policy  of,  in  Boeo- 
tian league,  490-492  ;  ascendancy  of, 
under  Epaminondas,  492-506 ;  alli- 
ance of,  with  Athens  against  Philip, 
602-607 

Themistocles,  builds  fleet,  145  ;  in  battle 
of  Marathon,  173;  founds  Athenian 
navy,  187-189;  in  battle  of  Artemis- 
ium,  197-198;  posts  inscriptions  for 
lonians,  199-201 ;  in  battle  of  Salamis, 
204-210;  later  career  of,  227-230;  es- 
timate of,  by  Thucydides,  230;  fortifies 
Athens  and  Piraeus,  243-246,  601,  615 

Theognis,  Athenian  oligarch,  462-465 

Theognis  of  Megara,  83-86 

Theoric  fund,  594-596 

Thera,  colony  of,  in  Libya,  39-40 

Theramenes,  327,  431,  442,  444-445, 
449-456 

Thermopylae,  battle  of,  190-196;  under 
PhiHp,  580,  583,  588,  593,  619 

Theron,  232 

Thersander,  527 

Thersites,  5 

Theseus,  113,  115 

Thesmothetae,  establishment  of,  1 17  ;  in 
fourth  century,  539 

Thespians  at  Thermopylae,  192-196 

Thessaly,  355,  585,  589-590.  593 

Thetes,  123-124,  275 


Thirty,  the,  450-465,  516 

Thrace,  activity  of  Cimon  in,  255  ;  col- 
onies in,  273-274;  during  Pelopon- 
nesian  war,  350-356;  activity  of 
Philip  in,  563-565,  584-590,  592.  See 
also  Amphipolis,  Chalcidice,  Eion, 
Olynthus 

Thrasybulus  of  Athens,  442,  444,  452, 
456,  481,  514-515 

Thrasybulus  of  Miletus,  78-79 

Thrasybulus  of  Syracuse,  67 

Thucydides,  historian,  in  Peloponnesian 
war,  351-352 

Thucydides,  statesman,  269,  286-287, 
294 

Thurii,  385 

Timotheus,  528-529 

Tiribazus,  490 

Tissaphernes,  422-425,  478 

Tithraustes,  478 

Torone,  358,  564 

Treasurers  of  Hellas,  institution  of,  247 

Tribes  of  Athens,  four  under  Solon, 
124;  ten  under  Cleisthenes,  140-141 

Tribute  Lists  (Athenian),  246-252 

Trittyes,  124 

Troy,  3 

Tyranny,  65-67 

Tyrtaeus,  91-93 

Walls  of  Athens,  "wooden,"  186-188; 
rebuilding  of,  under  Themistocles, 
242-246;  destruction  of,  by  Sparta, 
450  ;  rebuilding  of,  under  Conon,  512 

Xanthippus,  1 40-1 41,  268 

Xenophon  (pseudo),  on  Athenian  de- 
mocracy, 320-321 

Xerxes,  invasion  of  Greece  by,  1 77-1 84 ; 
in  battle  of  Thermopyte,  192-196; 
in  battle  of  Artemisium,  198-200;  de- 
feat of,  at  Salamis,  207-209,  21 1-215; 
retreat  of,  210-21 1,  215-218 

Zancle,  35 

Zanes  at  Olympia,  62 

Zeugita;,  118,  123,  275,  292 

Zeus,  temple  of,  at  Naucratis,  38 ;  oracle 
of,  at  Dodona,  55-56;  festival  of,  at 
Olympia,  60-63  '  temple  of  Zeus  Hel- 
lanius  at  Sparta,  99  ;  festival  of,  at 
Athens,  138-139;  sacrifices  to  Carian 
Zeus,  140;  temple  and  statues  of,  at 
Olympia,  222,  266;  precinct  of,  at 
Chalcis,  272;  temple  of,  at  Mantinea, 

365 
Zeuxis,  277 


INDEX   OF  AUTHORS 


(See  also  Contents) 


/Eschines 

Against  Ctesiphon,  613-618 
/Eschylus 

Persians,  174,  182-184,  211-218 

Epigrams,  175,  239 

Eumenides,  289-290 
Alcasus,  72-74,  75 
Anacreon,  30,  70 
Andocides 

De  Mysteriis,  389-394 

De  Pace,  517-519 
Archilochus,  45 
Aristophanes 

Clouds,  270 

Acharnians,  323-326 

Peace,  326,  361-363 

Knights,  328-332,  348-349 

The  Women  in  Parliament,  542-557 
Aristotle 

Constitution  of  Athens,  11 6-1 19,  121, 
123-126,127-130,134,141-142,189, 
248-249,    291-293,    327-328,    434- 

437.  451-453'  456-45^'  533-541 
Politics,  65-67,  83,  104 

Callinus,  44 

Carmina  Popularia,  72 

Demosthenes 

First  Philippic,  578-583 

First  Olynthiac,  584-586 

On  the  Chersonese,  587-589 

Third  Philippic,  589-594 

Third  Olynthiac,  594-596 

On  the  Embassy,  597-602 

On    the    Crown,    602-608,    609-610, 
618-621 
Diodorus  Siculus,  233,  562-569 
Diogenes  Laertius,  71-72 

Eupolis,  294,  328 
Euripides 

Ion,  57 

Suppliants,  366 

Andromache,  366-367 

Trojan  Women,  374-375 


Herodotus,  37-38,  39-40,  43,  44,  51-52, 
53,  58-60,  62-63,  67-69.  75-79.  80- 
82,88,94-96, 101-103, 114,130-133, 
136.  137-138,  139-141,  142-143, 
143-144,  144-145.  147-154.  15s- 
164,  165-173,  177-182,  185-188, 
190-197,  198-200,  202-206,  206- 
207,    207-211,    219-221,    223-225, 

231-233 
Hesiod,  47-49 
Homer 

Ihad,  3-8,  24-27 

Odyssey,  8-23 

Inscriptions,  38,  47,  53,  60,  75,  80,  89- 
90,  135, 154, 218-219,  234,  254-255, 
270-272,  274-275,  278-280,  308, 
310.  339-340.  350.  439-440,  481, 
484-485,  503-504,  507-510,  513, 
522-528,  529-531,  561,  586 
Isocrates 

Panegyricus,  473-475.  520-521 
Areopagiticus,  532-533 
Philippus,  570,  573 

Lycurgus 

Against  Leocrates,  611 
Lysias 

Against  Agoratus,  440-441,  461 

Against  Nicomachus,  458-461 

Against  Eratosthenes,  462-465 

On  the  Olive  Stump,  465 

For  Mantitheus,  484 

On    the    Property   of  Aristophanes, 

513-514 
Against  Ergocles,  514-517 

Palatine  Anthology,  610 
Pausanias,  57-58,  60-62,  83,  88,  89,  90- 
93,  126-127,  175-176,  222,  230,  235, 
264,    265,   266,   349-350.   495-499. 
504-505 
Pindar 

Pythian  Odes,  40-41,  221,  233,  234 
Isthmian  Odes,  218 
Olympian  Odes,  233 


637 


6^8 


READINGS  IN  GREEK  HISTORY 


Plato 

Laws,  98-99 
Plutarch 

Lycurgus,  99-101,  105,  106,  109-110, 

111-112 
Theseus,  115 
Solon,  1 19,  121-123 
Themistocles,  164-165,  188-189,  197, 

199-202,  206,  207,  228-230,  246 
Aristides,  173,  223,  249-250 
Cimon,  251-252,  255-257,  257-263 
Pericles,  268-270,  273,  275-279,  283- 

284,  286-289,  293-294,  307 
Alcibiades,    310,    385-386,   394-395' 

428-429 
Nicias,    332-335,    359-361,    384-385, 

404-405,  415 
Lysander,  468-470 
Agesilaus,  476-477 
Demosthenes,  574-577,  612-613 
Alexander,  608-609 
(pseudo),  432 
Polybius,  505-506 

Simonides,  136,  143,  218,  234,  235-239 
Skolion 

Harmodius  and  Aristogiton,  136 
Solon,  120,  127 


Strabo,  29,  30-34,  36-37,  43-44,  55-57, 
69-70,  70-71,  74-75.  87-88,  93 

Theognis,  83-86 

Thucydides,  34-36,  41-42,  46,  53-54. 
69,  96-97,  98,  113-114,  134-135. 
135-136,  137,  138-139.  144.  145. 
189-190,  221-222,  226-227,  230, 
241-246,  246-248,  250-251,  252- 
253,  255,  257,  263,  264-265,  266, 
267-268,  270,  280-283,  284-285, 
293.  294-302,  304-306,  307,  308- 
310,  311-319,  321-322,  335-339, 
340-347.  350-359,  363-365,  367- 
373.  376-384,  386-38S,  395-404, 
405-414,  416-425,  430-432,  432- 
434,  437-439,  559-560 

Tyrtaeus,  93 

Xenophon 

Polity  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  98,  loi , 

103-104,  105-106, 106-109, 1  lO-III 
Polity  of  the  Athenians,  320-321 
Hellenica,    425-427,    44i-45o,    453" 

456,    471-473,    477-478,    479-481, 

482-484,    485-495-    500-503,    510- 

512,  528 

Agesilaus,  478-479 


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